Is your robot up to it? DARPA wants machines that can explain how conditions affect their own performance - Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

As a competent marriage counselor might say, the foundation of any good relationship is communication--a principle the US military's research wing is taking to heart with a new program aimed at developing autonomous systems that are not just machines, but "trusted partners" with greater self-awareness. Autonomous technologies such as driverless cars cannot tell the humans they interact with much about how well they can perform in different conditions. A coach, for instance, might want to let a player with a sore arm sit out a game. Similarly, during bad weather, a passenger might choose a driverless car that performs better in the rain over another--if only the car could communicate its abilities better. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) seeks to develop that skill.