• Innovations in artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and robotic systems are set to revolutionise the way we work
• The research aims to identify and reduce the psychological barriers to accepting advice from ‘thinking machines’
• Participants needed for online survey and project has ethics committee approval

Charles Sturt received $107,998 for the project ‘Investigating the psychological barriers to accepting advice from ‘thinking’ machines in the workplace’.

It was one of four successful projects in partnership with the NSW Centre for Work, Health and Safety announced by the NSW Minister for Better Regulation and Innovation, The Hon. Kevin Anderson, MP, to explore key emerging risks in health and safety.

The project’s chief investigator, Dr Ben Morrison (pictured, inset), Adjunct Senior Lecturer in the Charles Sturt School of Psychology, said recent innovations in AI, machine learning, and robotic systems are set to revolutionise the way we work.

“Decision-aid technologies are becoming more common in the workplace, and this study aims to identify and reduce the psychological barriers to accepting advice from ‘thinking machines’ such as artificial intelligence and machine learning,” Dr Morrison said.

“The implementation of automated decision-making technologies, where a machine will ‘think’ for itself to generate responses to problems, will significantly impact a range of traditionally human tasks in such work domains as healthcare, transportation, education, research, and security.

“These technologies have enormous potential to benefit society, however, it is prudent to explore ways to mitigate arising risks to workers, organisations, and the public.

Charles Sturt University has partnered with Centre for Work Health and Safety to conduct research that aims to understand workers’ experiences with advanced technologies and related risks in the workplace.

“Our specific goal with this research is to identify the barriers that workers may experience when working with intelligent decision support technologies in the workplace,” Dr Morrison said.

The research team is currently seeking participants for its online questionnaire, and is particularly interested to hear from leaders from the health and wellbeing, aviation and aerospace, and manufacturing industries.

The project is part of a tender between Charles Sturt University and the Centre for Work, Health and Safety.  The research runs from May 2020 to November 2021, and has Charles Sturt University Human Research Ethics Committee approval.

The research team members are from several institutions:

Project chief investigator Dr Ben Morrison, Adjunct Senior Lecturer, School of Psychology, Charles Sturt University

Dr Natalie Morrison, Senior Lecturer, School of Medicine, Western Sydney University

Professor Mike Innes, Adjunct Professor, University of South Australia

Professor Manoranjan Paul, School of Computing and Mathematics, Charles Sturt University

Associate Professor Yeslam Al-Saggaf, School of Computing and Mathematics, Charles Sturt University

Dr Joshua Kelson, School of Psychology, Charles Sturt University

Ms Angelica Varhammar, Senior Research Officer, Centre for Work Health and Safety

Dr Gregory Zelic, Insights and Analytics Manager, Centre for Work Health and Safety

This is the second current Charles Sturt research project funded through the NSW Centre for Work, Health and Safety.