Ergonomic challenges and opportunities across diverse workplaces

Although the contexts in which AI tools are used have diversified, their successful adoption is not guaranteed. We aim to explore their integration across various workplaces—particularly safety-critical fields such as pharmacy, nursing, critical care, and crisis management—to identify the ergonomic challenges and opportunities that must be addressed to fully leverage their potential for improving performance, satisfaction, and safety.

Can AI tools realize their full potential when adopted in diverse contexts? Furthermore, what ergonomic challenges and opportunities must be addressed to harness their complementary benefits?

For instance, community pharmacists who encounter many alerts of low clinical importance may become distrustful of the AI’s capability to generate accurate and consistent alerts. Consequently, they may become desensitized, leading to high override rates. This desensitization highlights missed opportunities for ergonomic interventions to realize the full potential of AI-based clinical decision-support systems in pharmacy practice.

Missed opportunities for the workforce from an ‘algorithm-centered’ approach

We promote a ‘human-centered’ approach to realize the full potential of AI, advocating for ergonomic guidelines to address missed opportunities inherent in a traditional, ‘algorithm-centered’ approach. We aim to explore strategies to improve the perception and acceptance of AI. Our interventions include, but are not limited to, making the reasoning behind AI decisions transparent and understandable (explainable AI) so that humans and AI can function as dependable teammates that complement each other (human-AI teaming).

To what extent can humans accurately comprehend how and why a specific result was achieved by an algorithm? Furthermore, what are the most effective interventional strategies for improving the perception and acceptance of AI as a collaborative teammate?

Continuing from the previous example, presenting the evidence behind AI decisions—such as detailed information on potential interactions with aging, health conditions, and concurrent medications—would enhance pharmacists’ perception of AI’s capability and foster greater acceptance of its recommendations.

Significant impacts on workload and workflow

Adopting AI interventions in the workplace significantly impacts the lives of workers, as well as the nature of their workload and workflow. As highlighted over the past few years, the long-term sustainment of these AI interventions remains uncertain. We aim to explore strategies to maximize their sustainability.

Can AI interventions remain sustainable when implemented in diverse contexts? Furthermore, what strategies can alleviate their impact on workload and workflow?

For instance, implementing explainable AI interventions as described earlier could reduce pharmacists’ hesitancy to delegate the task of overriding clinically insignificant alerts to technicians. This expanded role for technicians would help pharmacists better manage their workload and workflow, demonstrating significant potential for the long-term sustainability of such interventions.

Solomon, D., Ahmad, A., Moon, J., Parmasad, V., Bennett, N.T., Ferren, R.S., Fitzsimmons, A.J., Lepak, A.J., Schulz, L.T., Pop-Vicas, A.E., Hernandez, S.E., Wiegmann, D., & Safdar, N. (2025). Examining the implementation of a multi-site evidence-based intervention to reduce fluoroquinolone usage: A qualitative content analysis of staff interviews to identify facilitators and barriers. Applied Ergonomics, 125. doi: 10.1016/j.apergo.2024.104419

Moon, J., Chladek, J.S., Wilson, P., & Chui, M.A. (2024). Clinical decision-making support systems in community pharmacies: A scoping review. Journal of the American Medical Information Association (JAMIA), 31(1), 231-239. doi: 10.1093/jamia/ocad208

Watterson, T.L., Moon, J., Stone, J.A., Gilson, A.M., Berbakov, M.E., Hoffins, E.L., Chladek, J.S., Lehnbom, E.C., Resendiz, S.M., Mai, S., Walker, K.D., Gollhardt, J.D., & Chui, M.A. (2024). Linking inner context and innovation factors: Examining a pharmacy-based intervention through the eyes of pharmacy staff. Exploratory Research in Clinical and Social Pharmacy (ERCSP), 15, ISBN: 2667-2766. doi: 10.1016/j.rcsop.2024.100486

Hernandez, S.E., Solomon, D., Moon, J., Parmasad, V., Wiegmann, D., Bennett, N.T., Ferren, R.S., Fitzsimmons, A.J., Lepak, A.J., O’Horo, J.C., Pop-Vicas, A.E., Schulz, L.T., & Safdar, N. (2024). Understanding clinical implementation coordinators’ experiences in deploying evidence-based interventions. American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy (AJHP), 81(4), 120-128. doi: 10.1093/ajhp/zxad272