Will AI Replace Human Factors Engineers and Ergonomists?

Collect data through direct observation of work activities or witnessing the conduct of tests.

Complex problem-solving, strategic leadership, or high-empathy task requiring human judgment.

Conduct interviews or surveys of users or customers to collect information on topics, such as requirements, needs, fatigue, ergonomics, or interfaces.

Semi-structured task combining routine and non-routine responsibilities.

Advocate for end users in collaboration with other professionals, including engineers, designers, managers, or customers.

Complex problem-solving, strategic leadership, or high-empathy task requiring human judgment.

Inspect work sites to identify physical hazards.

Semi-structured cognitive task involving analysis, inspection, or monitoring.

Prepare reports or presentations summarizing results or conclusions of human factors engineering or ergonomics activities, such as testing, investigation, or validation.

Semi-structured task combining routine and non-routine responsibilities.

Recommend workplace changes to improve health and safety, using knowledge of potentially harmful factors, such as heavy loads or repetitive motions.

Semi-structured task combining routine and non-routine responsibilities.

Perform functional, task, or anthropometric analysis, using tools, such as checklists, surveys, videotaping, or force measurement.

Complex problem-solving, strategic leadership, or high-empathy task requiring human judgment.

Provide technical support to clients through activities, such as rearranging workplace fixtures to reduce physical hazards or discomfort or modifying task sequences to reduce cycle time.

Semi-structured task combining routine and non-routine responsibilities.

Assess the user-interface or usability characteristics of products.

Semi-structured cognitive task involving analysis, inspection, or monitoring.

Establish system operating or training requirements to ensure optimized human-machine interfaces.

Complex problem-solving, strategic leadership, or high-empathy task requiring human judgment.

Integrate human factors requirements into operational hardware.

Semi-structured task combining routine and non-routine responsibilities.

Review health, safety, accident, or worker compensation records to evaluate safety program effectiveness or to identify jobs with high incidence of injury.

Routine cognitive or manual task with high vulnerability to automation.

Design or evaluate human work systems, using human factors engineering and ergonomic principles to optimize usability, cost, quality, safety, or performance.

Complex problem-solving, strategic leadership, or high-empathy task requiring human judgment.

Write, review, or comment on documents, such as proposals, test plans, or procedures.

Complex problem-solving, strategic leadership, or high-empathy task requiring human judgment.

Train users in task techniques or ergonomic principles.

Semi-structured task combining routine and non-routine responsibilities.

Conduct research to evaluate potential solutions related to changes in equipment design, procedures, manpower, personnel, or training.

Complex problem-solving, strategic leadership, or high-empathy task requiring human judgment.

Provide human factors technical expertise on topics, such as advanced user-interface technology development or the role of human users in automated or autonomous sub-systems in advanced vehicle systems.

Complex problem-solving, strategic leadership, or high-empathy task requiring human judgment.

Develop or implement human performance research, investigation, or analysis protocols.

Complex problem-solving, strategic leadership, or high-empathy task requiring human judgment.

Develop or implement research methodologies or statistical analysis plans to test and evaluate developmental prototypes used in new products or processes, such as cockpit designs, user workstations, or computerized human models.

Complex problem-solving, strategic leadership, or high-empathy task requiring human judgment.

Estimate time or resource requirements for ergonomic or human factors research or development projects.

Complex problem-solving, strategic leadership, or high-empathy task requiring human judgment.

Design cognitive aids, such as procedural storyboards or decision support systems.

Complex problem-solving, strategic leadership, or high-empathy task requiring human judgment.

Analyze complex systems to determine potential for further development, production, interoperability, compatibility, or usefulness in a particular area, such as aviation.

Complex problem-solving, strategic leadership, or high-empathy task requiring human judgment.

Investigate theoretical or conceptual issues, such as the human design considerations of lunar landers or habitats.

Complex problem-solving, strategic leadership, or high-empathy task requiring human judgment.

Operate testing equipment, such as heat stress meters, octave band analyzers, motion analysis equipment, inclinometers, light meters, thermoanemometers, sling psychrometers, or colorimetric detection tubes.

Semi-structured cognitive task involving analysis, inspection, or monitoring.

Perform statistical analyses, such as social network pattern analysis, network modeling, discrete event simulation, agent-based modeling, statistical natural language processing, computational sociology, mathematical optimization, or systems dynamics.

Complex problem-solving, strategic leadership, or high-empathy task requiring human judgment.

Apply modeling or quantitative analysis to forecast events, such as human decisions or behaviors, the structure or processes of organizations, or the attitudes or actions of human groups.

Semi-structured task combining routine and non-routine responsibilities.