In the shift towards human-centered manufacturing, our two-year longitudinal study investigates the real-world impact of deploying Cognitive Assistants (CAs) in factories. The CAs were designed to facilitate knowledge sharing among factory operators. Our investigation focused on smartphone-based voice assistants and LLM-powered chatbots, examining their usability and utility in a real-world factory setting. Based on the qualitative feedback we collected during the deployments of CAs at the factories, we conducted a thematic analysis to investigate the perceptions, challenges, and overall impact on workflow and knowledge sharing. Our results indicate that while CAs have the potential to significantly improve efficiency through knowledge sharing and quicker resolution of production issues, they also introduce concerns around workplace surveillance, the types of knowledge that can be shared, and shortcomings compared to human-to-human knowledge sharing. Additionally, our findings stress the importance of addressing privacy, knowledge contribution burdens, and tensions between factory operators and their managers.

本研究解决了工厂中知识共享认知助手（CAs）实施所面临的挑战和风险。通过对工厂操作员的定性反馈进行主题分析，我们发现虽然CAs在知识共享和快速解决生产问题方面具有显著的效率提升潜力，但也引发了工作场所监控和人际知识共享不足等隐忧，强调了隐私和知识贡献负担的问题。

工厂操作员对知识共享认知助手的看法：挑战、风险与工作影响