Tag Archives: human factors

At its core, Human Factors exists to protect and advance human interests. As AI becomes increasingly embedded in our lives, that perspective matters more than ever.

Unlike many in our profession, my interest in AI did not begin with autonomous vehicles, intelligent automation, or the promise of AI-assisted healthcare. While these developments were exciting, what captured my attention was something broader: AI’s ability to shape the
social fabric through which we experience the world.

Today, algorithms influence much of what we see, read, discuss, and believe. They help determine which news reaches us, which content appears in our social media feeds, and which opportunities are presented to us online. Over time, the people we meet, the information we consume, and the conversations we have are increasingly mediated by
systems designed to predict and influence human behaviour.

The stories we tell about search engines presenting different results to different users, or social media platforms serving content most likely to keep us engaged, are now commonplace. Yet these examples point to something significant. Algorithms do not merely organise information; they shape human experiences and, ultimately, human outcomes.

Human Factors and Human Rights

The more I have worked in automation and AI, the more I have come to believe that many of the challenges we face are not fundamentally technical problems. They are human ones, and this is where Human Factors has an important role to play.

Consider some of the concerns that Human Factors professionals have traditionally focused on:

• Out-of-the-loop effects that can undermine safety
• Reduced engagement and skill degradation resulting from underload
• Changes to worker roles, responsibilities, and identity
• Ethical concerns surrounding the collection and use of personal data

At first glance, these may appear to be separate issues. Look closer, however, and a common theme emerges.

Out-of-the-loop effects are ultimately concerns about human safety and the protection of life. Data ethics is fundamentally concerned with privacy. Changes to worker roles and automation-driven displacement raise questions about meaningful work, dignity, and economic participation (United Nations, 1948).

These are not simply design challenges. They are questions about how technology affects people and society.

Arguably, there is nothing more aligned with the mission of Human Factors than protecting the interests of the people who live and work within the systems we help create. Whether we explicitly frame these concerns as human rights, human wellbeing, or human interests, the underlying objective remains the same: ensuring that technological progress serves people rather than the other way around.

A Broader Role for Human Factors

We often describe ourselves more narrowly than this.

Much of the language used to explain Human Factors focuses on operational performance, usability, or the well-established lessons of automation. These remain important, but they can also obscure the broader contribution our discipline is capable of making.

At the same time, computer scientists are increasingly tackling questions of human-AI collaboration. Policymakers are grappling with the societal implications of AI. Legal and regulatory experts are attempting to understand and mitigate potential harms. These conversations are all, in one way or another, concerned with the relationship between people and technology.

Human Factors has both expertise and responsibility in this space. The discipline is often criticised for being too broad. I would argue the opposite.

We are narrow in purpose and broad in expertise.

That distinction matters: what looks like breadth is actually coherence across contexts where human experience intersects with technology.

Our purpose is simple: to ensure that systems serve human needs and human interests.

The methods we use to achieve that purpose may vary. We draw from psychology, engineering, design, systems thinking, ergonomics, organisational science, and many other disciplines. Yet the objective remains remarkably consistent. We seek to understand how technology affects people and how systems can be designed to support human capability, wellbeing, autonomy, and safety.

Viewed through that lens, Human Factors is not a supporting discipline that becomes relevant once technology has already been developed. It is a strategic discipline that should help shape decisions from the outset.

Shaping the Future of AI

This is why I believe Human Factors is at its most valuable when it informs governance, policy, and organisational strategy—not simply design and evaluation.

The most important questions surrounding AI are increasingly questions about people. How should decisions be allocated between humans and machines? What level of oversight is appropriate? How should personal data be collected and used? What responsibilities do organisations have to workers whose roles are transformed by automation? What kinds of futures are we actively choosing to create?

These questions cannot be answered by technical expertise alone.

Too often, Human Factors is perceived as a discipline that slows innovation down by identifying risks and constraints. A more constructive framing is that Human Factors helps direct innovation towards outcomes that are genuinely beneficial for people.

We are not simply concerned with whether a system works. We are concerned with who it works for, who it disadvantages, and what kind of future it helps create.

Viewed this way, many of the challenges surrounding AI begin to look surprisingly familiar. Questions of safety, privacy, autonomy, dignity, and meaningful work have always sat at the heart of Human Factors practice. We may use different language, but we have been grappling with these issues for decades.

Perhaps there is nothing more fundamentally Human Factors than protecting human rights.

The right to life and safety. The right to privacy. The right to meaningful work and participation in society. As AI becomes increasingly capable and increasingly embedded within our institutions, these rights will not protect themselves. They will require deliberate design choices, thoughtful governance, and professionals willing to advocate for human interests.

That is why Human Factors belongs at the AI strategy table.For those interested in exploring this perspective further, I highly recommend Human Rights, Robot Wrongs by Susie Alegre. The book offers a compelling examination of how emerging technologies intersect with human rights and why these questions should concern all of us—not just lawyers, policymakers, or technologists.