Structural properties of optimal fidelity selection policies for human-in-the-loop queues

Abstract

We study optimal fidelity selection for a human operator servicing a queue of homogeneous tasks. The agent can service a task with a normal or high fidelity level, where fidelity refers to the degree of exactness and precision while servicing the task. Therefore, high-fidelity servicing results in higher-quality service but leads to larger service times and increased operator tiredness. We treat the human cognitive state as a lumped parameter that captures psychological factors such as workload and fatigue. The operator’s service time distribution depends on her cognitive dynamics and the fidelity level selected for servicing the task. Her cognitive dynamics evolve as a Markov chain in which the cognitive state increases with high probability whenever she is busy and decreases while resting. The tasks arrive according to a Poisson process and the operator is penalized at a fixed rate for each task waiting in the queue. We address the trade-off between high-quality service of the task and consequent penalty due to a subsequent increase in queue length using a discrete-time Semi-Markov Decision Process framework. We numerically determine an optimal policy and the corresponding optimal value function. Finally, we establish the structural properties of an optimal fidelity policy and provide conditions under which the optimal policy is a threshold-based policy.