Automation and the Future of Human Work: An Everlasting Debate Renewed by the Work Activity

Silva, Daniel Castro; Cunha, Liliana

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-74602-5_40

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 9 publications

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“…At a time when technology changes the forms of work organization and reconfigures how work is developed (e.g., through automation), less tangible risks emerge. Thus, the analysis of the human-machine relationships cannot be understood from an approach cantered exclusively on technology's potential (Silva and Cunha, 2021). Such a view does not allow us to know how these relationships are constructed on a day-to-day basis, in the face of production requirements and constraints associated with the organization of work, and within a worker collective capable of supporting the value of technical expertise.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pleasure and Suffering at Work in the Technical Act: A Case Study From a Garment Factory in a Context of Technological Transformation

Cunha¹,

Silva²,

Maggioli³

et al. 2022

Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Intelligent Human Systems Integration (IHSI 2022) Integrating People and Int

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At a time when the transformation of human-machine relationships is instigated by technological advances, the redefinition of know-how, the relationships with the worker collective and the risks and impacts on health have been pushed aside by the emphasis given to technological potential. More than in technology itself, it is through the technical act that these relationships are embodied: a process developed through experience which is not neutral to its socio-technical and organizational context, generating both pleasure and suffering. Through the analysis of work activity, using observations, individual and auto-confrontation interviews, a case study was conducted in a garment factory. Results give insight into four different dimensions which define efficient technical acts: understanding the machine, relationship with others, a job well done and risks and impacts on health. The management of these work dimensions is done to pursue a balance (which is always fragile) between work demands and health preservation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pleasure and Suffering at Work in the Technical Act: A Case Study From a Garment Factory in a Context of Technological Transformation

Cunha¹,

Silva²,

Maggioli³

et al. 2022

Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Intelligent Human Systems Integration (IHSI 2022) Integrating People and Int

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The Challenges of Automated Driving Contributions Towards a Human-Automation Research Agenda from the Lens of the Activity

Silva

Cunha

2021

Studies in Systems, Decision and Control

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“Looking for the defect”: The emerging frontiers between the work activity and automation in a cork industrial district

Silva

Cunha

2022

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BACKGROUND: The division of labour between workers and machines is the motto for the current debate on the future of work, as the number of tasks that can potentially be automated increases. Despite receiving significant interest, to date, this debate has focused on forecasts that estimate the potential for machine substitution and thus overshadow the activity perspective. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to address the frontiers between human operators and automation in a Portuguese industrial district and to understand how the embodied know-how of expert workers is used when they face the requirements of automated machines. METHODS: A qualitative approach to ergonomic analysis was employed in two cork companies, including exploratory interviews with managerial staff; work activity observations (combining observations with video recordings); collective interviews with the workers; and collective meetings to validate our results and conclusions. RESULTS: The workers revealed operating modes related to sensory aspects to face the cork-related variability and the limits of automated machines. The human-machine configurations call for the experience of the senses, at the material-corporeal level, and for the preservation of reference points of the activity, mostly in the operation of seeing the cork stoppers. CONCLUSIONS: The competent act of seeing the stoppers, as an operational expertise layer, enriches the theoretical allocation of tasks between workers and machines. Future challenges for activity-centred ergonomics and work psychology fields are identified, drawing attention to the sustainable development of work, i.e., work activities where people may learn from experience and remain healthy within automated work environments.

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Automation and the Future of Human Work: An Everlasting Debate Renewed by the Work Activity

Cited by 3 publications

References 9 publications

Pleasure and Suffering at Work in the Technical Act: A Case Study From a Garment Factory in a Context of Technological Transformation

Pleasure and Suffering at Work in the Technical Act: A Case Study From a Garment Factory in a Context of Technological Transformation

The Challenges of Automated Driving Contributions Towards a Human-Automation Research Agenda from the Lens of the Activity

“Looking for the defect”: The emerging frontiers between the work activity and automation in a cork industrial district

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