Presentation
The Future of Human Factors: Expanding Educational Opportunities in Higher Education
SessionPoster Session 1
DescriptionThis commentary is in response to two recent articles in the journal Ergonomics (Hancock, 2023; de Winter & Eisma, 2024) that seem to call in question the purposes and necessity of our discipline of human factors and ergonomics (HF/E), as well as a call to re-evaluate the premises and purposes of our discipline in the face of ever-accelerating technological advancement and complexity, in particular artificial intelligence (AI). Although the aforementioned papers appear to advocate surrender to technology (or technique more broadly speaking; cf. Ellul, 1956; Heidegger, 1976), in this paper I would like to counter with the argument that there is nothing new under the sun, that the “operating environment” for HF/E has not changed since foundation of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) in 1957, and that we, as members of HFES and researchers and practitioners of HF/E have much to contribute as advocates for humans in the increasingly technological society. This, however, will require refocusing our mission to human (emphasis added) factors, away from technique.
Event Type
Poster
TimeTuesday, October 14th5:30pm - 6:30pm CDT
LocationRiverside East