Research and analysis

Can human augmentation바카라 사이트痮ffer solutions to labour shortages in the next 5 years? HTML

Published 21 November 2023

漏 Crown copyright 2023

This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open 바카라 사이트 Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk.

Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.

This publication is available at /government/publications/human-augmentation-and-labour-shortages/can-human-augmentationoffer-solutions-to-labour-shortages-in-the-next-5-years-html

Meeting note from roundtable chaired by Simon Whitfield, 바카라 사이트 Office for Science聽(19 January 2023).

Key points聽聽

  • Defining human augmentation (HA) is not straightforward. For the purposes of this discussion, HA was defined as assistive technologies which can improve the quality and quantity of human labour without supplanting it.바카라 사이트�

  • Many technologies, while offering a range of potential applications, remain embryonic and unfocused in terms of intended application, with limited market penetration. Overall understanding of their impacts is poor.바카라 사이트�

  • In the UK바카라 사이트檚 predominantly service and knowledge-based economy, cognitive augmentations have the potential to improve work-based training, widen access to labour markets, and allow humans to move onto higher skilled tasks. However, they can also be deployed to narrow human autonomy.바카라 사이트�

  • There are common barriers to adoption and acceptance, including awareness, cost and the constantly changing nature of work.바카라 사이트�

  • Implementation of any technology into a workplace needs to be approached using systems thinking.바카라 사이트�

  • It is important to have dialogue and consent before implementing technologies and to carefully consider who will benefit and who may be adversely affected. Building trust and consent is time consuming.바카라 사이트�

1. Labour and productivity聽聽

  • Different sectors face different skills gaps and labour shortages: one-size-fits-all technological solutions are unrealistic. A full understanding of reasons for economic inactivity is required before exploring what technologies could address these and how. Jobs continue to evolve, and few involve fulfilling a single task. It is hard to focus technologies to provide workplace solutions.바카라 사이트�

  • There are different types of HA 바카라 사이트� primarily physical and cognitive 바카라 사이트� with potential to operate in the same domains.바카라 사이트�

  • Many technologies, while offering a range of potential applications, remain embryonic and unfocused, with limited market penetration. Overall understanding of their impacts is poor: this represents a significant research gap. Impacts need to be understood at both the individual and organisational level.바카라 사이트�바카라 사이트�

  • Different sectors would benefit from forward-looking scenarios, e.g., of future workplaces, so they might focus on potential use cases for various technologies.바카라 사이트�

  • Some sectors are more suitable for HA assistive technologies in the short term, particularly manufacturing, construction, logistics, and potentially health and social care, where they are already in use.바카라 사이트�바카라 사이트�

  • Augmented reality (AI) and virtual reality (VR) are already commonplace in the leisure and gaming sector. Technologies such as AI and VR can be used to support on-the-job learning cost effectively.바카라 사이트�바카라 사이트�

  • Technologies also have the potential to widen access, e.g., digital braille and language translation tools, to improve the speed of workforce training, and allow humans to move onto higher skilled tasks. However, they can also be deployed to constrain labour and narrow human autonomy.바카라 사이트�

  • In industrial contexts, and depending on use case, HA technologies can produce a range of improvements in efficiency.聽

  • There was broad agreement that cognitive augmentations can enable jobs in the UK바카라 사이트檚 predominantly service and knowledge-based economy to be carried out more efficiently and to broaden the base of the labour force.바카라 사이트�

  • We shouldn바카라 사이트檛 assume that HA technologies can solve particular problems without creating new ones, e.g., health-related problems. More longitudinal studies should be undertaken to understand these technologies.聽

  • In addressing labour shortages, productivity is one metric of success, but others could also be considered, such reducing inequalities (by enabling more people to carry out highly technical or skilled work) and making jobs more interesting/fulfilling. With focus to reducing inequalities there needs to be a distinction between simple use of technology and 바카라 사이트榟uman augmentation바카라 사이트� alongside the question of ownership.바카라 사이트�

2. Implementation challenges聽聽

  • There are common barriers to adoption, whether for embryonic or more mature technologies. These include awareness of and trust in technologies, cost (especially for SMEs), the complicated and continually evolving nature of sectors in which technologies may be deployed, ability and appetite to experiment, health and safety, regulation, and standards.바카라 사이트�

  • Even when a business knows of a beneficial technology, it is challenging to identify a suitable vendor and to introduce the technology in a timely, safe, and efficient way.바카라 사이트�

  • Implementation of a technology into any workstream needs to be considered in a systematic way, including determining how to reallocate time freed up by use of a given technology.바카라 사이트�

  • Appetite for HA technologies could vary at different levels of an organisation, such as between business leaders and more junior workers. It is important to have dialogue and achieving consent before implementing technologies and to carefully consider who will benefit and who may be adversely affected. The question of who owns technology is important.바카라 사이트�

  • Building trust and consent is time consuming and requires working with multiple stakeholders, including management, employees, unions, health and safety bodies.바카라 사이트�

笔补谤迟颈肠颈辫补苍迟蝉听听

Simon Whitfield (바카라 사이트 Office for Science; Chair), Alex Tasker (University College London; Cabinet Office), Andrew Weightman (University of Manchester), Anna Valero (London School of Economics), Chris Melhuish (University of the West of England), Elisa Roth (University of Cambridge), Josh Smith (UFI VocTech), Peter Mills (Nuffield Council on Bioethics), Sarah Clinch (University of Manchester), Thomas Bohn茅, University of Cambridge.聽

Annex: 바카라 사이트 activity as of January 2023聽

Back to top