To automate or not to automate: advocating the ‘cliff-edge’ principle
To automate or not to automate: advocating the ‘cliff-edge’ principle
We reflect briefly on the last forty years or so of ergonomics and human factors research in automation, observing that many of the issues being discussed today are the same as all those decades ago. In this paper, we explicate one of the key arguments regarding the application of automation in complex safety-critical domains, which proposes restraining the capabilities of automation technology until it is able to fully and completely take over the task at hand. We call this the ‘cliff-edge’ principle of automation design. Instead, we espouse a use for the technology in a more problem-driven, human-centred way. These are not entirely new ideas and such a philosophy is already gaining traction in ergonomics and human factors. The point is that in a given system, tasks should be controlled either by human or by automation; anything in between only causes problems for system performance.
Automation, human performance, human-centred design, safety
1695-1701
Young, Mark S.
3f79589e-2000-4cb0-832a-6eba54f50130
Stanton, Neville A.
351a44ab-09a0-422a-a738-01df1fe0fadd
2023
Young, Mark S.
3f79589e-2000-4cb0-832a-6eba54f50130
Stanton, Neville A.
351a44ab-09a0-422a-a738-01df1fe0fadd
Young, Mark S. and Stanton, Neville A.
(2023)
To automate or not to automate: advocating the ‘cliff-edge’ principle.
Ergonomics, 66 (11), .
(doi:10.1080/00140139.2023.2270786).
Abstract
We reflect briefly on the last forty years or so of ergonomics and human factors research in automation, observing that many of the issues being discussed today are the same as all those decades ago. In this paper, we explicate one of the key arguments regarding the application of automation in complex safety-critical domains, which proposes restraining the capabilities of automation technology until it is able to fully and completely take over the task at hand. We call this the ‘cliff-edge’ principle of automation design. Instead, we espouse a use for the technology in a more problem-driven, human-centred way. These are not entirely new ideas and such a philosophy is already gaining traction in ergonomics and human factors. The point is that in a given system, tasks should be controlled either by human or by automation; anything in between only causes problems for system performance.
Text
To automate or not to automate advocating the cliff-edge principle
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Accepted/In Press date: 28 September 2023
e-pub ahead of print date: 14 October 2023
Published date: 2023
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The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.
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© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Keywords:
Automation, human performance, human-centred design, safety
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Local EPrints ID: 483459
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/483459
ISSN: 0014-0139
PURE UUID: 8afcfbab-bd13-41cf-a22a-f76905ef4b98
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Date deposited: 31 Oct 2023 17:41
Last modified: 18 Mar 2024 04:12
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Author:
Mark S. Young
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