Smooth and Resilient Human-Machine Teamwork as an Industry 5.0 Design Challenge

Smart machine companions such as artificial intelligence (AI) assistants and collaborative robots are rapidly populating the factory floor. Future factory floor workers will work in teams that include both human co-workers and smart machine actors. The visions of Industry 5.0 describe sustainable, resilient, and human-centered future factories that will require smart and resilient capabilities both from next-generation manufacturing systems and human operators. What kinds of approaches can help design these kinds of resilient human-machine teams and collaborations within them? In this paper, we analyze this design challenge, and we propose basing the design on the joint cognitive systems approach. The established joint cognitive systems approach can be complemented with approaches that support human centricity in the early phases of design, as well as in the development of continuously co-evolving human-machine teams. We propose approaches to observing and analyzing the collaboration in human-machine teams, developing the concept of operations with relevant stakeholders, and including ethical aspects in the design and development. We base our work on the joint cognitive systems approach and propose complementary approaches and methods, namely: actor-network theory, the concept of operations and ethically aware design. We identify their possibilities and challenges in designing and developing smooth human-machine teams for Industry 5.0 manufacturing systems.

Automated summary

Smart machine companions, such as AI assistants and collaborative robots, are becoming increasingly common in factories. Future factory floor workers will work alongside these smart machines. This paper analyzes the design challenge of creating resilient human-machine teams and proposes using the joint cognitive systems approach. The paper also suggests complementary methods, such as actor-network theory, the concept of operations, and ethically aware design, to support human-centric design and the development of smoothly functioning human-machine teams for Industry 5.0 manufacturing systems.