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How exposed to AI is a Human Factors Engineers and Ergonomist?

Of the 26 tasks O*NET lists for human factors engineers and ergonomists, 8 could be done in half the time with a chat window today. 7 cannot be sped up at all. Here is which.

Exposure means published research judged an AI could halve the time a task takes, at the same quality. It does not mean the task stops needing a person. How to read this

Also called
Board Certified ErgonomistCertified Professional ErgonomistCognitive EngineerEngineerErgonomic ConsultantErgonomics Technical AdvisorErgonomistHuman Factors AdvisorHuman Factors EngineerOccupational Ergonomist
Reachable today Needs software built first Cannot be sped up
26
tasks rated for this occupation
100%
hold a degree, from a survey of 20
294k
people do this job in the US
15 of 56
least protected in architecture and engineering

Every task, and what AI can do with it

These are O*NET's task statements for this occupation, exactly as written, sorted into the three bands by the ratings behind this report. Nothing has been reworded.

Reachable with a chat window today

8
  • Develop or implement human performance research, investigation, or analysis protocols
  • Recommend workplace changes to improve health and safety, using knowledge of potentially harmful factors, such as heavy loads or repetitive motions
  • Provide technical support to clients through activities, such as rearranging workplace fixtures to reduce physical hazards or discomfort or modifying task sequences to reduce cycle time
  • Write, review, or comment on documents, such as proposals, test plans, or procedures
  • Establish system operating or training requirements to ensure optimized human-machine interfaces
  • Develop or implement research methodologies or statistical analysis plans to test and evaluate developmental prototypes used in new products or processes, such as cockpit designs, user workstations, or computerized human models
  • Estimate time or resource requirements for ergonomic or human factors research or development projects
  • Design cognitive aids, such as procedural storyboards or decision support systems

Only with software built on top

11
  • Design or evaluate human work systems, using human factors engineering and ergonomic principles to optimize usability, cost, quality, safety, or performance
  • Prepare reports or presentations summarizing results or conclusions of human factors engineering or ergonomics activities, such as testing, investigation, or validation
  • Collect data through direct observation of work activities or witnessing the conduct of tests
  • Conduct interviews or surveys of users or customers to collect information on topics, such as requirements, needs, fatigue, ergonomics, or interfaces
  • Perform functional, task, or anthropometric analysis, using tools, such as checklists, surveys, videotaping, or force measurement
  • Assess the user-interface or usability characteristics of products
  • Conduct research to evaluate potential solutions related to changes in equipment design, procedures, manpower, personnel, or training
  • Analyze complex systems to determine potential for further development, production, interoperability, compatibility, or usefulness in a particular area, such as aviation
  • Apply modeling or quantitative analysis to forecast events, such as human decisions or behaviors, the structure or processes of organizations, or the attitudes or actions of human groups
  • Investigate theoretical or conceptual issues, such as the human design considerations of lunar landers or habitats
  • Perform statistical analyses, such as social network pattern analysis, network modeling, discrete event simulation, agent-based modeling, statistical natural language processing, computational sociology, mathematical optimization, or systems dynamics

Cannot be sped up

7
  • Inspect work sites to identify physical hazards
  • Integrate human factors requirements into operational hardware
  • Advocate for end users in collaboration with other professionals, including engineers, designers, managers, or customers
  • Train users in task techniques or ergonomic principles
  • Review health, safety, accident, or worker compensation records to evaluate safety program effectiveness or to identify jobs with high incidence of injury
  • Operate testing equipment, such as heat stress meters, octave band analyzers, motion analysis equipment, inclinometers, light meters, thermoanemometers, sling psychrometers, or colorimetric detection tubes
  • Provide human factors technical expertise on topics, such as advanced user-interface technology development or the role of human users in automated or autonomous sub-systems in advanced vehicle systems
What this does not say

This is not a prediction about your job

Nobody surveyed an employer. Tasks are counted equally, so a percentage here is a share of the list rather than a share of your week. And the ratings were made in 2023, which makes every figure a floor rather than a ceiling.

It must never be used to select anyone for redundancy. The full limits are here.

Where to go next

This is the standard task list for the title. The useful next question is which of the tasks you actually do should go near AI, and which should not.

Sort your own tasks Read the full report

Exposure ratings from Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin and Rock, GPTs are GPTs: Labor market impact potential of LLMs, Science 384, 1306–1308, 2024, used under the MIT licence. This page includes information from the O*NET Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. People Team AI has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. Employment figures from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.