ALFRED THE BUTLER: Analytic for Federated Data (ALFRED), Tool for Human Efficiency: Behavior and Updates Tracker for Learning Expectations and Relevance (THE BUTLER)

The intelligence analysts who monitor for asymmetric threats such as improvised explosive devices (IEDs) face a daunting task of information management. They must monitor data from diverse sources, repeatedly circling back for updates, always evaluating content, and aiming to identify critically relevant information when it is first available. These are painstaking processes. The cost of missing critical information is high. To reduce this burden, we propose ALFRED (Analytic for Federated Data) THE BUTLER (Tool for Human Efficiency: Behavior and Updates Tracker for Learning Expectations and Relevance). This tool minimizes the burdens of information-search and information-evaluation encountered by intelligence analysts. ALFRED THE BUTLER monitors a centralized cloud-based database and the user’s activities to (a) learn work patterns and data-related expectations; (b) anticipate operators’ information needs through learned definitions of operational-relevance and workflow state; and (c) discretely prioritize and format operator-facing messages to optimize impact and minimize disruption. As a result, ALFRED THE BUTLER facilitates the warfighter’s timely recognition of situationally-relevant details and activities to preempt threats and prevent casualties from asymmetric war.