Ergonomics

Evolution of Human Factors and Ergonomics in AI-Driven New Scenarios

Artificial Intelligence is profoundly reshaping a myriad of engineering, service, and daily life scenarios, fundamentally altering the way humans live and work. In established domains such as automated driving, software engineering, and office automation, AI algorithms and smart agents have already seamlessly integrated into workflows, disrupting traditional operational paradigms and yielding entirely novel interaction experiences. Looking ahead, it is anticipated that the widespread adoption of embodied AI and generative technologies will continuously catalyze an even broader spectrum of unforeseen scenarios. From remote surgical assistance and intelligent emergency rescue to seamless smart home ecosystems, these burgeoning AI-driven contexts demand our immediate academic scrutiny.

The emergence of these new AI-driven scenarios brings a series of unprecedented Human Factors and Ergonomics (HFE) research questions. These questions span across multiple levels of complexity. At the fundamental individual level, the focus is on how users build and maintain trust in AI, how to ensure their psychological and physical safety, and how AI can practically enhance human cognitive and physical capabilities. Moving to the interaction level, researchers need to explore new ways for humans and AI to communicate, and how to dynamically allocate tasks between them for better teamwork. At the broader organizational level, the introduction of AI reshapes the entire workplace structure. This requires a fresh look at three key relationships: how traditional human-to-human collaboration changes when AI is involved, how to manage and evaluate direct human-AI partnerships, and how multiple AI agents coordinate with each other in the background. Finally, at the macro societal level, crucial questions arise regarding public acceptance of these autonomous technologies, ethical concerns in daily life, and how society as a whole adapts to an AI-driven future.

Building upon this landscape, this special issue seeks to explore these transformative dynamics across a diverse range of AI-driven new scenarios. We welcome contributions that examine, but are not limited to, the following domains:

• Future of Smart Production and Industry 5.0: The shift towards human-centric, resilient manufacturing, where cognitive ergonomics and intuitive human-robot collaboration take priority. Research in this area explores how adaptive AI systems can dynamically align with operators' physical and cognitive states on the factory floor.
• Intelligent Supply Chain and Logistics: The integration of AI-augmented decision support systems and autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) in supply chain networks and complex logistics systems. Key issues include the cognitive load on human dispatchers overseeing algorithmic routing and the seamless physical interaction in automated warehouses.
• Smart Mobility and Transportation: The evolution of human-machine interfaces (HMIs) in conditionally and highly automated vehicles, as well as next-generation aviation. Future modalities like urban air mobility (UAM). Crucial areas involve the safe transition of control, continuous driver/pilot state monitoring, and the user-experience of shared autonomous mobility services.
• Next-Generation Healthcare and Well-being: The deployment of AI diagnostic aids, surgical robotics, and personalized care assistants. Studies are needed to evaluate the usability of these tools for clinicians, cognitive alignment in medical decision-making, and the trust and acceptance of AI-driven care by patient populations.
• New Services and Social Systems: The increasing adoption of embodied AI and generative agents in smart homes, automated retail, and AI-mediated social interactions. This encompasses how service robots influence consumer behavior, emotional engagement, and the design of inclusive digital services.
• The other innovative contributions across diverse domains beyond the scope of the above categories

Within these emerging contexts, the implementation of AI gives rise to complex challenges that demand rigorous academic inquiry. We invite theoretical and empirical contributions that address the following critical HFE research questions:

• Novel Human-AI Relationships: Moving beyond traditional user-tool paradigms to investigate the complex dynamics of human-AI interaction. This includes exploring the mechanisms of trust formation, calibration, and long-term trust repair, as well as strategies for mitigating conflicts and fostering transparent, mutually beneficial collaboration.
• Evolution of Human-AI Teams: Investigating how the introduction of AI agents as autonomous collaborative partners redefines teamwork. Key areas of focus include the design of new organizational structures, adaptive technical support mechanisms, the development of novel metrics for evaluating joint performance, and the conceptualization of leadership and human competencies within mixed human-agent teams.
• Emerging Methods and Paradigms: Encouraging methodological innovations tailored for the AI era. This involves utilizing advanced AI technologies (e.g., large language models, multi-modal behavioral tracking) to elevate traditional HFE research, while also establishing new theoretical frameworks to capture the complexities of continuous, dynamic human-AI co-evolution.
• Broader AI Governance and Ethical Implications: Addressing the macro-level societal impacts of pervasive AI deployment. Research is vital to understand algorithmic bias, accountability, and the risk of techno-stress, aiming to leverage HFE principles for value-aligned, ethical AI design that ensures equitable well-being for diverse users.