• Skip to navigation
  • Skip to content
Ulster University logo Return to Ulster University homepage
  • Global students – Resources for Ulster University International Students
  • Staff Links – Resources for Ulster University staff
  • Student Guide - The Student Guide to Ulster
  • Portal - for Ulster University
  • Find staff & Departments – search and browse Ulster’s staff directory
  • News – for Ulster University
  • Events – for Ulster University
  • Home - Ulster University website homepage
  • Study at Ulster University

    Study options

    • Study in Northern Ireland
    • Undergraduate study options
    • Postgraduate study options
    • Postgraduate Research/ PhD
    • Short courses and CPD
    • Part-time Undergraduate study options
    • Part-time study options
    • eLearning study at Ulster University

    Courses

    • Search for courses
    • A to Z 2023/24
    • A to Z 2022/23

    More information

    • Entrance requirements
    • Equivalence of qualifications
    • Your rights and obligations
    • International students
    • Further education students
    • Associate students
  • Campus Life at Ulster University

    Campus Life

    • Campuses
    • Accommodation - Residential Services
    • Sport Services
    • Students' Union UUSU
    • All Ulster University Events

    Support

    • Student Guide
    • Student Wellbeing
    • Digital Services
    • Library

    Careers and Opportunities

    • Employability and Careers
    • Go Global
    • Science Shop
    • Student Enterprise
  • Research & Impact

    Research & Impact

    • Our research
    • Collaboration and Innovation
    • Work with us
    • Our Research Topics
    • Our Research Teams

    PhD/Research degrees

    • Funded & Self Funded PhDs
    • Postgraduate Research Programmes
    • How to apply for PhD Research
    • Funding for Phd's
    • Contact the Doctoral College

    More information

    • PURE - research portal
    • REF 2021 (Research Excellence Framework)
    • Policies and Procedures
  • Business themed areas of Ulster University

    Work with Us

    • Recruit top talent
    • Business School student placements
    • Scholarships, sponsorships and corporate giving
    • Upskill courses by Sector

    Business Engagement

    • Build a course
    • Executive Education Courses
    • Apprenticeship Hub
    • Business leader Peer Mentoring
    • Postgraduate short courses

    Research Expertise

    • Work with us
    • Funding opportunities
    • Innovation Ulster Ltd
    • Case studies
    • Meet the team

    Further Information

    • Market information
    • Hire one of our venues
  • Graduates of Ulster University
  • Home - Go to homepage
  • Study Options at Ulster University
  • Find a course at Ulster University
  • Campus Life
  • Research & Impact at Ulster University
  • Business at Ulster University
  • Graduates - find out about Alumni and Supporters at Ulster University
  • Global Students – become part of our global community at Ulster University

  • Student Guide
  • Staff Links – Resources for Ulster University staff
  • Find staff & Departments – search and browse Ulster’s staff directory
  • Portal – customise and access your online services

  •   Twitter account for Ulster University
  •   Facebook account for Ulster University
  •   YouTube account for Ulster University
Ulster University
  • Search
  • Link for Ulster University
  • Link for News
  • Link for 2019
  • Link for July

Ulster University Researchers develop neural computational model of decision uncertainty and change-of-mind

Ulster University Researchers have developed the world’s first biologically motivated, computational model that can quantify decision uncertainty and explain its effects on change-of-mind during decision-making processing. This could potentially be used by developers to create self-aware machines.

22 July 2019
Share Article: Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn

Ulster University Researchers have developed the world’s first biologically motivated, computational model that can quantify decision uncertainty and explain its effects on change-of-mind during decision-making processing. This could potentially be used by developers to create self-aware machines.

At the recent world economic forum, of the 56 top technology pioneers, at least 20 companies are using some form of artificial intelligence (A.I.) to tackle challenges in fields such as advertising technology, smart cities, clean tech, supply chain, manufacturing, cybersecurity, healthcare, autonomous vehicles, and drones. A.I. systems encompass machine learning techniques and powerful computational resources to create predictive models through the processing of complex and large data. However, critically, they lack a key component that is essential to human intelligence and effective decision making: self-awareness.

At the Intelligent Systems Research Centre (ISRC) at Ulster University’s Magee campus, pioneering research on biologically-inspired algorithms have been advancing beyond standard A.I. algorithms. In particular, this exciting new work in Computational Neuroscience has shown for the first time that neural network models can be equipped with metacognition or self-awareness of their own actions and choices. The computer model can not only mimic brain activity observed in humans and some animals, but also replicate change-of-mind and error correction behaviour, which require “on-the-fly” metacognitive processing.

This research has recently been published in the prestigious journal Nature Communications and can be viewed here.

The senior author and researcher of the research work, Dr KongFatt Wong-Lin, commented:

“Our research has revealed the plausible brain circuit mechanisms underlying how we calculate decision uncertainty, which could in turn influence or bias our actions, such as change-of-mind. Further, given the wide applications of artificial neural networks in A.I., we are perhaps closer than ever before to creating self-aware machines than we have previously thought. Real-time monitoring of decision confidence in artificial neural networks could also potentially allow better interpretability of the decisions and actions made by these algorithms, thereby leading to more responsible and trustworthy A.I.”

Mr. Nadim Atiya, lead author of the paper and a PhD researcher at the ISRC, added:

“Our research work could also form the basis towards understanding brain disorders such as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and addiction, in which metacognitive abilities are impaired, linking Computational Neuroscience to Psychiatry; a nascent research area named Computational Psychiatry.”

Dr. Wong-Lin further outlined ongoing work:

“We are now working with cognitive scientists and brain scientists to further develop our computer model, while creating conscious machines that are self-aware of their actions and decisions consequently making A.I. and machines much more intelligent and interpretable.”

Other contributors of the research work are Prof. Girijesh Prasad and Dr. Iñaki Rañó, both from the ISRC. Dr. Rañó is currently at the University of Southern Denmark.


Related news

  1. Fri 01 Jul 2022

    Celebrate the Launch of ‘The Songs of Sam Henry’ Album by local musician and PhD Researcher

  2. Fri 01 Jul 2022

    Careers Teachers’ Summit 2022 welcomes 100 delegates to the Magee campus

  3. Thu 30 Jun 2022

    Ulster University supports Learning, Teaching and Student Experience Conference for UK Business Educators

  4. Thu 30 Jun 2022

    The 120 miles a day uni roundtrip that led to a dream research job in the USA

Elsewhere on Ulster

Faculty of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences

Faculty of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment

Faculty of Life and Health Sciences

Ulster University Business School- Faculty

Courses & Research

  • Search for courses
  • Undergraduate courses at Ulster University
  • Postgraduate courses at Ulster University
  • Part-time courses at Ulster University
  • Short courses & CPD at Ulster University
  • Study online at Ulster University
  • Research & Impact
  • Doctoral College
  • PURE

Campus locations

  • Belfast campus
  • Coleraine campus
  • Jordanstown campus
  • Magee campus
  • London and Birmingham
  • Qatar

Campus facilities

  • Residential Services / Accommodation
  • Sports Services - Memberships and Facilities
  • Library Services and resources supporting learning, teaching and research at the University

About The University

  • About Ulster University
  • Contact Details
  • Job opportunities
  • Key calendar dates
  • Faculties
  • News - Ulster University
  • Events - Ulster University

Other sites

  • Alumni & Supporters
  • Confucius Institute
  • Get advice from Employability and Careers
  • Finance Department
  • Flexible Education
  • Digital Services - computing, digital and media services
  • People & Culture
  • Student Wellbeing
  • Sustainability

Ulster University social

@StudyAtUlster Follow us on Twitter @UlsterUni Follow us on Twitter
/studyatulster /ulsteruniversity
/StudyAtUlster /UlsterUniversity
/ulsteruni
  • Privacy Policy
  • Accessibility Statements
  • Copyright
  • Freedom of Information
  • Modern Slavery Statement

© Copyright Ulster University 2022.

Ulster University is registered with the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland (NIC100166).