Human—An Asset or a Liability: The Real Deal with Modern Humans in Intelligent Systems and Complex Operations

Abstract

Popular understanding today characterizes human as an asset of an organization. On the contrary, various industrial cases often conclude human error as a major cause for unwanted events and incidents. Subsequently, much focus over the years has been paid on the human reliability, human error etc. Under this conventional focus lies the hidden presumption that performances and behaviors can be controlled or regulated by various technical, operational, and managerial means. These imply that humans take up a dual role in the use and operation of industrial systems; an asset on certain occasions and/or a liability on the others. This paper takes a critical look at this dual role with respect to the developments that has taken place over thousands of years and the nature of industrial systems that have been developed as well as those that are emerging. It strongly argues that the very nature of the humans are not understood or incorporated in the design, deployment, and operationalization of industrial systems. With respect to the complexity and dynamics of emerging systems, this has very sensitive implications in terms of safety and security.