Teaching Intelligence Analysis with TIACRITIS

Abstract

This paper 1) discusses the astonishing complexity of intelligence analysis by using the popular metaphor of "connecting the dots," 2) outlines a systematic computational approach, grounded in the Science of Evidence, that allows coping with this complexity, and 3) introduces an innovative intelligent software agent, called TIACRITIS, for teaching intelligence analysts how to perform evidence-based reasoning. TIACRITIS is a web-based system with case studies and knowledge bases incorporating a significant amount of knowledge about evidence, its properties, uses, and discovery. It is a personalizable agent that helps analysts acquire the knowledge, skills, and abilities involved in discovering and processing of evidence and in drawing defensible and persuasive conclusions from it, by employing an effective learning-by-doing approach. It allows analysts to practice and learn how to link evidence to hypotheses through abductive, deductive, and inductive reasoning that establish the basic credentials of evidence: its relevance, believability, and inferential force or weight. Analysts can also experiment with what-if scenarios and study the influence of various assumptions on the final result of analysis.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 2010
Accession Number
ADA533920

Entities

People

  • B. Hamilton
  • B. Wible
  • D. Marcu
  • D. Schum
  • G. Tecuci
  • M. Boicu

Organizations

  • George Mason University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter WMD
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Abstracts
  • Analysts
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Case Studies
  • Hazardous Materials
  • Hypotheses
  • Instructors
  • Intelligence Analysis
  • Intelligence Analysts
  • Learning
  • Materials
  • National Security
  • Radiological Weapons
  • Reasoning
  • Software Agents
  • Students
  • Thinking

Fields of Study

  • Computer science

Readers

  • Agent-Based Social Robotics and Mobile-Assisted Learning in Virtual Environments.
  • Geospatial Intelligence and Artificial Intelligence Analytics
  • Systems Analysis and Design