Original title: Understanding Operator Attitudes Toward AI-Supported Decision Making in Maritime Operations
Doreen Jirak, Armeen Saroukanoff, Dirk van Rooy · September 2026
Autonomous ships and AI helpers could transform maritime travel, but ships stay safe only if operators trust these tools. Researchers surveyed maritime professionals to see how they feel about an AI assistant that helps avoid collisions. The researchers tested the operators' technology anxiety, their trust, and how well the AI explained itself, while also reviewing their written feedback. They found that operators generally feel positive about maritime technology. Openness to the tools did not clearly differ by age, and trust stayed stable across different scenarios. However, ratings of explanations changed more depending on the scenario. Operators appreciated help with decisions, awareness, and confidence, but worried about AI reliability, over-reliance, and losing their own skills.
Imagine you're a new driver using a GPS for the first time. You trust it to get you there, but you also worry that if you rely on it too much, you'll forget how to read a map. The GPS gives you directions, but sometimes you need to check the road signs yourself. In this paper, the GPS is an AI assistant for ships, and the drivers are maritime professionals. The study finds that people like the GPS but are concerned about losing their own navigation skills, so the best GPS would help you stay sharp, not just take over.
As ships become more automated, the people who operate them must trust the machines without becoming overly dependent. This study shows that simply making AI more automated or more trusted isn't enough—designers need to build systems that support careful, calibrated reliance, keeping human expertise in the loop. That balance is critical for safe maritime operations.
The abstract does not specify sample size, demographics, or the specific scenarios used, so the generalizability of the findings is unclear. It also does not report effect sizes or statistical significance, and the results are based on self-reported attitudes rather than actual behavior. The study focuses on collision-avoidance scenarios, so conclusions may not extend to other maritime tasks.
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Understanding Operator Attitudes Toward AI-Supported Decision Making in Maritime Operations — Doreen Jirak, Armeen Saroukanoff, Dirk van Rooy
Abstract licence: CC0
Explanation generated by Synthesis from the abstract — it is not the original paper. This is a preprint, so it hasn't necessarily been peer reviewed.