Interview with J.J. Cañas
The magazine ToolBar interviewed Dr. José Juan Cañas, a Psychology graduate from the University of Granada and Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from the University of South Florida (USA). He is currently a Professor of Ergonomics at the University of Granada (UGR) and Director of the Cognitive Ergonomics Group at the CIMCYC research center.
Dr. Cañas has spent more than thirty years researching Ergonomics, Cognitive Psychology, and Artificial Intelligence (AI). His main focus has been on designing efficient systems to detect mental states and human behavior, with a particular emphasis on effectiveness, efficiency, and safety in areas such as technology use, driving, and air traffic control.
From the outset, Dr. Cañas understood that AI must be designed using concepts and principles from Cognitive Ergonomics to ensure intelligent systems can proactively intervene to prevent accidents, adapt tasks, and provide support when needed. The fundamental idea behind AI system design, from a Cognitive Ergonomics perspective, is that improving effectiveness, efficiency, and safety requires optimizing collaboration between humans and intelligent systems. Guided by this principle, Cognitive Ergonomics has advanced human-machine interactions and facilitated a conceptual shift toward collaboration between intelligent agents—one human and the other artificial.
Grounded in the belief that artificial intelligence should complement human work rather than replace it, Dr. Cañas has collaborated with professionals from various engineering fields and psychology specialties to ensure AI systems are both effective and ethically responsible.
The use of AI must always have boundaries defined by human rights and the ethical values of society. Solving the challenges related to this issue is not easy, but the effort to address them is essential. This debate requires the active involvement of society as a whole, and Psychology, in all its branches, can play a crucial role in this work.
"I believe that as long as humans are required to supervise what AI does, Psychology is absolutely essential." — José Cañas, 2024
Link to the October issue with the full interview: https://sofiatools.com/RevistaToolbar/