Designing work with AI for human capability and meaning
12 November 2026 · Timișoara, Romania
What should people continue to do at work when AI can do more? On 12 November, ErgoWork will bring researchers and practitioners from the private and corporate sectors together in Timișoara to explore this question at the opening of its 2026 conference. The workshop forms part of ErgoWork’s contribution to EU-OSHA’s Healthy Workplaces Campaign 2026–2028, “Together for mental health at work”.
Taking place at GreenForest, the discussion will connect the conference theme, “Ergonomics for Mind and Machine — Shaping Resilient Work Systems”, with choices organisations are already making about how people and artificial intelligence work together.
What is worth keeping human
The workshop starts from a question that reaches beyond what technology can produce: which activities should we retain for people, even when AI can perform them, because the experience of doing them develops human capabilities, agency and meaning at work?
Work is also where people practise judgement, learn from feedback, build professional relationships and experience the value of their contribution. Delegating an activity changes these opportunities. AI can open space for exploration and help people develop ideas, while work design determines whether they retain a genuine role in shaping the outcome.
Connecting AI collaboration with mental health at work
EU-OSHA’s campaign promotes the prevention and management of psychosocial risks through healthier work environments. Its guidance highlights working conditions such as excessive demands, unclear roles, limited involvement in decisions and insufficient support. These are practical questions of work organisation, with relevance across sectors.
The workshop will bring that perspective into the discussion of AI. Can people understand and challenge a recommendation? Do they have the authority and time to change it? Does automation release time for learning and recovery, or lead to greater pressure and more checking? Are responsibilities clear when a result is produced jointly?
Meaning adds another question: can people recognise their own intentions, choices and contribution in what they create? A polished output does not tell the whole story of the experience behind it. The discussion will consider how collaboration can strengthen participation, relationships and professional identity.
From classroom exploration to workplace decisions
Exploratory exercises carried out in university classes will provide a starting point for the conversation. Students in interior design and engineering management have considered human, AI-led and mixed approaches to work processes. Their responses and selected work examples will help make the discussion concrete.
Early observations suggest that capability, control and meaning do not always move together. Participants will discuss what this means for everyday work and how the allocation of activities might support both immediate outcomes and the development of human capabilities over time.
A regenerative approach to the future of work
The aim is to explore work that actively renews people’s ability to learn, contribute and exercise judgement. This includes asking how future professionals will acquire the experience needed to evaluate AI-supported work, and how teams can preserve mentoring, cooperation and collective learning as activities change.
By connecting research with experience from corporate practice, ErgoWork’s opening workshop will create space to discuss how technological progress can contribute to mentally healthy, resilient and meaningful work.
Join the opening programme
Thursday, 12 November 2026 · GreenForest Exhibition Hall, 28 Simion Bărnuțiu Street, Timișoara, Romania. The workshop takes place within the conference opening programme, scheduled for 17:00–18:30, local time.
ErgoWork 2026 takes place on 12–13 November, with the main conference programme continuing at Politehnica University of Timișoara on 13 November. Please consult the conference website for participation information and programme updates.
ErgoWork conference · Conference programme · EU-OSHA campaign
#EUhealthyworkplaces #ErgoWork2026 #HumanCentredWork
What should people continue to do at work when AI can do more? On 12 November, ErgoWork will bring researchers and practitioners from the private and corporate sectors together in Timișoara to explore this question at the opening of its 2026 conference. The workshop forms part of ErgoWork’s contribution to EU-OSHA’s Healthy Workplaces Campaign 2026–2028, “Together for mental health at work”.
Taking place at GreenForest, the discussion will connect the conference theme, “Ergonomics for Mind and Machine — Shaping Resilient Work Systems”, with choices organisations are already making about how people and artificial intelligence work together.
What is worth keeping human
The workshop starts from a question that reaches beyond what technology can produce: which activities should we retain for people, even when AI can perform them, because the experience of doing them develops human capabilities, agency and meaning at work?
Work is also where people practise judgement, learn from feedback, build professional relationships and experience the value of their contribution. Delegating an activity changes these opportunities. AI can open space for exploration and help people develop ideas, while work design determines whether they retain a genuine role in shaping the outcome.
Connecting AI collaboration with mental health at work
EU-OSHA’s campaign promotes the prevention and management of psychosocial risks through healthier work environments. Its guidance highlights working conditions such as excessive demands, unclear roles, limited involvement in decisions and insufficient support. These are practical questions of work organisation, with relevance across sectors.
The workshop will bring that perspective into the discussion of AI. Can people understand and challenge a recommendation? Do they have the authority and time to change it? Does automation release time for learning and recovery, or lead to greater pressure and more checking? Are responsibilities clear when a result is produced jointly?
Meaning adds another question: can people recognise their own intentions, choices and contribution in what they create? A polished output does not tell the whole story of the experience behind it. The discussion will consider how collaboration can strengthen participation, relationships and professional identity.
From classroom exploration to workplace decisions
Exploratory exercises carried out in university classes will provide a starting point for the conversation. Students in interior design and engineering management have considered human, AI-led and mixed approaches to work processes. Their responses and selected work examples will help make the discussion concrete.
Early observations suggest that capability, control and meaning do not always move together. Participants will discuss what this means for everyday work and how the allocation of activities might support both immediate outcomes and the development of human capabilities over time.
A regenerative approach to the future of work
The aim is to explore work that actively renews people’s ability to learn, contribute and exercise judgement. This includes asking how future professionals will acquire the experience needed to evaluate AI-supported work, and how teams can preserve mentoring, cooperation and collective learning as activities change.
By connecting research with experience from corporate practice, ErgoWork’s opening workshop will create space to discuss how technological progress can contribute to mentally healthy, resilient and meaningful work.
Join the opening programme
Thursday, 12 November 2026 · GreenForest Exhibition Hall, 28 Simion Bărnuțiu Street, Timișoara, Romania. The workshop takes place within the conference opening programme, scheduled for 16:00–18:00, with participant registration from 15:30 to 16:00. All times are local.
ErgoWork 2026 takes place on 12–13 November, with the main conference programme continuing at Politehnica University of Timișoara on 13 November. Please consult the conference website for participation information and programme updates.
ErgoWork conference · Conference programme · EU-OSHA campaign
#EUhealthyworkplaces #ErgoWork2026 #HumanCentredWork
What should people continue to do at work when AI can do more? On 12 November, ErgoWork will bring researchers and practitioners from the private and corporate sectors together in Timișoara to explore this question at the opening of its 2026 conference. The workshop forms part of ErgoWork’s contribution to EU-OSHA’s Healthy Workplaces Campaign 2026–2028, “Together for mental health at work”.
Taking place at GreenForest, the discussion will connect the conference theme, “Ergonomics for Mind and Machine — Shaping Resilient Work Systems”, with choices organisations are already making about how people and artificial intelligence work together.
What is worth keeping human
The workshop starts from a question that reaches beyond what technology can produce: which activities should we retain for people, even when AI can perform them, because the experience of doing them develops human capabilities, agency and meaning at work?
Work is also where people practise judgement, learn from feedback, build professional relationships and experience the value of their contribution. Delegating an activity changes these opportunities. AI can open space for exploration and help people develop ideas, while work design determines whether they retain a genuine role in shaping the outcome.
Connecting AI collaboration with mental health at work
EU-OSHA’s campaign promotes the prevention and management of psychosocial risks through healthier work environments. Its guidance highlights working conditions such as excessive demands, unclear roles, limited involvement in decisions and insufficient support. These are practical questions of work organisation, with relevance across sectors.
The workshop will bring that perspective into the discussion of AI. Can people understand and challenge a recommendation? Do they have the authority and time to change it? Does automation release time for learning and recovery, or lead to greater pressure and more checking? Are responsibilities clear when a result is produced jointly?
Meaning adds another question: can people recognise their own intentions, choices and contribution in what they create? A polished output does not tell the whole story of the experience behind it. The discussion will consider how collaboration can strengthen participation, relationships and professional identity.
From classroom exploration to workplace decisions
Exploratory exercises carried out in university classes will provide a starting point for the conversation. Students in interior design and engineering management have considered human, AI-led and mixed approaches to work processes. Their responses and selected work examples will help make the discussion concrete.
Early observations suggest that capability, control and meaning do not always move together. Participants will discuss what this means for everyday work and how the allocation of activities might support both immediate outcomes and the development of human capabilities over time.
A regenerative approach to the future of work
The aim is to explore work that actively renews people’s ability to learn, contribute and exercise judgement. This includes asking how future professionals will acquire the experience needed to evaluate AI-supported work, and how teams can preserve mentoring, cooperation and collective learning as activities change.
By connecting research with experience from corporate practice, ErgoWork’s opening workshop will create space to discuss how technological progress can contribute to mentally healthy, resilient and meaningful work.
Join the opening programme
Thursday, 12 November 2026 · GreenForest Exhibition Hall, 28 Simion Bărnuțiu Street, Timișoara, Romania. The workshop takes place within the conference opening programme, scheduled for 16:00–18:00, with participant registration from 15:30 to 16:00. All times are local.
ErgoWork 2026 takes place on 12–13 November, with the main conference programme continuing at Politehnica University of Timișoara on 13 November. Please consult the conference website for participation information and programme updates.
ErgoWork conference · Conference programme · EU-OSHA campaign
#EUhealthyworkplaces #ErgoWork2026 #HumanCentredWork
Official campaign visual © EU-OSHA, 2026. Campaign digital assets
