15.04.2026 • 1 Std. 8 Min.

Since September 2025 the long-term research group “Robust Decision Heuristics for Natural and Artificial Intelligence” is working at ZiF. The group seeks to bridge the study of decision-making under uncertainty in natural systems and the design of robust AI systems. Here, "natural systems" is primarily a reference to humans but we will also consider insects because they have simpler decision processes. The goal of the researchers more specifically is to explore the design of algorithms for robust and transparent AI systems by drawing on models of decision processes under uncertainty in natural systems; and to explore the design of AI systems driven by decision heuristics to gain new understanding about decision-making in natural systems.In this episode the conveners of the group, Mohan Sridharan (Chair in Robot Systems, Edinburgh), Özgür Şimşek (Professor of Computer Science, Bath) and psychologist Gerd Gigerenzer (Berlin) talk about the many facets of their research, covering human decision making as well as robot soccer. They also discuss the necessity and the challenges of interdisciplinary collaboration. LinksMohan Sridharan Özgür Şimşek Gerd Gigerenzer ZiF research group “Robust Decision Heuristics for Natural and Artificial Intelligence”