AI exposure: Human Factors Engineers and Ergonomists
Design objects, facilities, and environments to optimize human well-being and overall system performance, applying theory, principles, and data regarding the relationship between humans and respective technology. Investigate and analyze characteristics of human behavior and performance as it relates to the use of technology.
Reading this score
computed36.3% of this occupation's weighted task load is exposed, which puts Human Factors Engineers and Ergonomists at the 63th percentile of 923 occupations. The capability is largely there. Its average task scores 2.6 out of 4 on what a current system can produce, and the frictions that hold other jobs in place are comparatively weak here.
What holds the line here is context. Across this occupation's 26 tasks it averages 2.00 out of 3, the highest of the five friction dimensions. In plain terms, the work depends on knowledge the model cannot hold. Much of this job runs on things that were never written down: what this particular organisation does, what happened last week, what the person across the table actually meant. That context is the barrier, and it erodes as systems are given more access.
The most exposed thing this job does is Prepare reports or presentations summarizing results or conclusions of human factors..., at 73.3%. The least is Review health, safety, accident, or worker compensation records to evaluate safety program..., at 5.0%. A gap of 68.3% between two parts of the same job is the reason this index publishes at task level. An occupation-wide number would have hidden both.
Within architecture and engineering occupations, this one is less exposed than the median of 37.5% across the group's 56 roles, with 34 scoring higher. Being in an exposed family does not make a particular job exposed, and the reverse holds too.
What would move this score. Of 26 tasks, 13 are currently banded exposed, 10 assisted and 3 untouched. For that distribution to shift materially would take a change in who is permitted to sign the work, which is a question for regulators rather than for engineers. The score is re-computed every quarter against a fresh capability reference, and the change is published rather than quietly applied.
Task by task
26 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prepare reports or presentations summarizing results or conclusions of human factors engineering or ergonomics activities, such as testing, investigation, or validation. | 73.3% | 26.7% | 0.0% | 4.40 | exposed |
| Write, review, or comment on documents, such as proposals, test plans, or procedures. | 73.3% | 26.7% | 0.0% | 4.15 | exposed |
| Design cognitive aids, such as procedural storyboards or decision support systems. | 73.3% | 26.7% | 0.0% | 3.55 | exposed |
| Design or evaluate human work systems, using human factors engineering and ergonomic principles to optimize usability, cost, quality, safety, or performance. | 61.3% | 26.2% | 12.5% | 4.16 | exposed |
| Assess the user-interface or usability characteristics of products. | 55.0% | 20.0% | 25.0% | 4.26 | exposed |
| Establish system operating or training requirements to ensure optimized human-machine interfaces. | 50.0% | 25.0% | 25.0% | 4.20 | exposed |
| Estimate time or resource requirements for ergonomic or human factors research or development projects. | 50.0% | 25.0% | 25.0% | 3.60 | exposed |
| 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. | 45.0% | 30.0% | 25.0% | 3.88 | exposed |
| 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. | 45.0% | 30.0% | 25.0% | 3.40 | exposed |
| 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. | 45.0% | 30.0% | 25.0% | 3.20 | exposed |
| Recommend workplace changes to improve health and safety, using knowledge of potentially harmful factors, such as heavy loads or repetitive motions. | 40.0% | 35.0% | 25.0% | 4.37 | exposed |
| 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. | 40.0% | 35.0% | 25.0% | 4.32 | exposed |
| Advocate for end users in collaboration with other professionals, including engineers, designers, managers, or customers. | 35.0% | 40.0% | 25.0% | 4.50 | assisted |
| Develop or implement human performance research, investigation, or analysis protocols. | 35.0% | 40.0% | 25.0% | 3.84 | assisted |
| 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. | 35.0% | 40.0% | 25.0% | 3.80 | assisted |
| Train users in task techniques or ergonomic principles. | 26.7% | 23.3% | 50.0% | 4.00 | exposed |
| Collect data through direct observation of work activities or witnessing the conduct of tests. | 20.0% | 30.0% | 50.0% | 4.70 | assisted |
| Conduct interviews or surveys of users or customers to collect information on topics, such as requirements, needs, fatigue, ergonomics, or interfaces. | 20.0% | 30.0% | 50.0% | 4.55 | assisted |
| Perform functional, task, or anthropometric analysis, using tools, such as checklists, surveys, videotaping, or force measurement. | 20.0% | 30.0% | 50.0% | 4.35 | assisted |
| Integrate human factors requirements into operational hardware. | 20.0% | 30.0% | 50.0% | 4.18 | assisted |
| Conduct research to evaluate potential solutions related to changes in equipment design, procedures, manpower, personnel, or training. | 20.0% | 30.0% | 50.0% | 3.95 | assisted |
| Analyze complex systems to determine potential for further development, production, interoperability, compatibility, or usefulness in a particular area, such as aviation. | 20.0% | 30.0% | 50.0% | 3.53 | assisted |
| Investigate theoretical or conceptual issues, such as the human design considerations of lunar landers or habitats. | 20.0% | 30.0% | 50.0% | 3.44 | assisted |
| Inspect work sites to identify physical hazards. | 8.3% | 16.7% | 75.0% | 4.47 | untouched |
| Operate testing equipment, such as heat stress meters, octave band analyzers, motion analysis equipment, inclinometers, light meters, thermoanemometers, sling psychrometers, or colorimetric detection tubes. | 8.3% | 16.7% | 75.0% | 3.40 | untouched |
| Review health, safety, accident, or worker compensation records to evaluate safety program effectiveness or to identify jobs with high incidence of injury. | 5.0% | 20.0% | 75.0% | 4.17 | untouched |
Task text and importance ratings sourced from O*NET 31.0. Shares computed. The occupation score is the importance-weighted mean.
Where the score comes from
judgedEvery task is scored through the standardised work activities it maps to. These are this occupation’s averages on the six rubric dimensions. Capability is what AI can do; the other five are what stands in the way.
| Dimension | Mean | Scale |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | 2.60 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 1.10 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 0.65 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 1.60 | 0-3 |
| Context | 2.00 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 1.90 | 0-3 |
What this means in practice
Where most of a role's weighted task load is exposed, the work that survives is usually the part of the job nobody wrote into the job description: deciding what should be produced rather than producing it, and being answerable for the result. The tasks lowest on this page are a better guide to where to spend your time than any general advice about the future of work.
Occupations either side of this one
The four closest scores in the same occupational family, then the four closest anywhere in the index.
Read this carefully. Exposure is not displacement. A high score means current AI systems can produce this work, not that anyone will stop paying a person to do it. Adoption depends on economics, regulation and inertia that this index deliberately does not model. How the score is built.