AI, Cognitive Neuroscience, and Maritime Safety
March 18, 2026 – Lecture
Wednesday, March 18, 2026 at 3:30 p.m. – FAS-1113
Daniel Lafond earned his PhD in Cognitive Science from Université Laval. He now applies his expertise in neuroscience and technology to the development of intelligent systems at Thales.
**Intelligent Training Systems for Maritime Safety:
Competency Tracking Using Cognitive Neuroscience and Artificial Intelligence**
Context
Professionals in the maritime sector require periodic training to ensure compliance with safety standards. Simulation-based training is a safe, practical, and effective method for strengthening and consolidating skills. However, competency assessment poses a challenge for instructors when supervising multiple trainees simultaneously or when training simulators are deployed at client sites.
Objective
We examined the ability of an AI-based assistant to assess sailors’ competencies during small-vessel maneuvering simulations. The system is designed to learn how instructors evaluate competencies based on behavioral data and performance measures.
Method
Data collected by the simulator are transmitted to an AI-based evaluation module that interacts with instructors, either to learn from them or to provide assistance or automation. The Cognitive Shadow AI module is integrated into the MissionQuest training platform to perform real-time competency assessments. Cognitive Shadow combines multiple supervised machine learning models to automatically learn expert decision-making patterns. In parallel, the Sensor Hub software is also integrated into MissionQuest to enable simultaneous psychophysiological monitoring. Sensor Hub collects biosignals such as heart rate variability and respiration to model trainees’ ease in performing each subtask.
Results / Conclusion
This presentation will describe the data collection process and the results obtained. We conclude that by effectively learning a trainer’s evaluation policies, the system can support instructors’ judgment, mitigate staffing shortages, and enable individualized optimization of training.