Intelligentizing Human Factors: Human centered AI in the next 10 years

This talk addresses the critical role of human factors and ergonomics (HFE) in the success of AI projects. While AI technologies are advancing rapidly across domains, from healthcare to logistics, over 90% of AI initiatives still fail—largely due to insufficient integration of human-centered principles. The concept of “intelligentizing” HFE refers to embedding AI systems with intuitive, human-aware design that aligns with user expectations, mental models, and cognitive capabilities. Drawing on examples from the South Korean Government Research Initiative, "Intelligentizing Human Factors" , this presentation illustrates how AI performance can match user experiences, privacy concerns, or lack of transparency. Standards such as ISO 9241-210 are emphasized for guiding human-centered AI design. Key concepts like affordance, mental models, and socio-technical systems are explored to stress the importance of seamless human-AI interaction. Finally, successful AI requires more than technical accuracy—it must understand, adapt to, and harmonize with human needs. Intelligent ergonomics bridges this gap, ensuring AI systems are not only powerful but also usable, trustworthy, and socially accepted. As AI becomes ubiquitous, the future of ergonomics lies in co-evolving with intelligent systems to enhance both human performance and system effectiveness.