Human-AI Collaboration: A Blessing or a Curse for Safety at Work?

Abstract

Human-AI collaboration is increasingly considered an alternative to fears of automation and large-scale job loss that are typically attributed to AI. However, the current scholarly understanding of this type of collaboration falls victim to a one-sided, rather optimistic view. More specifically, human-AI collaboration is commonly associated with augmenting or enhancing work. In this scenario, I use insights from qualitative research on the use of AI in practice to develop alternative perspectives around unexpected and unintended consequences of human-AI collaboration for worker safety. As such, I argue for future research to study human-AI collaboration in practice, to carefully unpack the ripple effects of changing or “enhanced” work practices, and to consider AI systems as being embedded in wider systems of cognition including, but not limited to, the mind, the body, and technologies.