Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada, is preparing for a future where artificial intelligence (AI) helps troops manage the growing flood of Arctic surveillance data before human operators become overwhelmed.
Researchers at the university’s Cognitive and Motor Performance Lab (CaMP Lab) are working with Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC), defense firm Thales, and Quebec’s Université Laval to develop and test AI-assisted command systems for high-pressure military activities in the region.
Inside CaMP Lab simulations, participants monitor virtual Arctic operations while AI-powered platforms flag risks, suggest actions, and filter critical information from background noise.
The effort comes as melting sea ice opens new shipping routes and drives more vessel traffic across northern waters. Each ship, drone, radar, and sensor adds another stream of information that operators must process in real time.
Researchers warned that the workload could eventually exceed what humans can realistically manage alone, particularly during chaotic or fast-moving situations.
“There’s just going to be a bunch of new data that’s going to end up in the hands and in the minds of operators,” said DRDC scientist Dr. Aren Hunter. “At some point, you hit a ceiling.”
‘Recreating the Thinking’
One of the AI systems under study, called Cognitive Shadow, functions like a digital co-pilot for military operators.
Developed with support from Thales, the platform studies how humans make decisions, tracks behavioral patterns, and provides real-time recommendations during rapidly evolving scenarios.
Researchers are also examining when operators trust the AI, when they choose to ignore it, and how stress or fatigue affects decision-making.
Additionally, the teams are developing safeguards that allow AI to warn users when its own predictions may be unreliable, helping reduce the risk of blind trust in automation.
“What we do is create simulations that replicate the task that the actual experts do, but in a way that can be understood by a more general population,” said Dr. Heather Neyedli, lead researcher at CaMP Lab.
She added that the solutions streamline work that would otherwise require classified military systems or direct access to senior military personnel, who are often unavailable or unable to openly discuss operational details.
“We’re not recreating the classified system. We’re recreating the thinking,” Neyedli stated.
