ABSTRACT
Technical artefacts have always been humankind’s companions in work. For better or worse this dependency on technology is profound. Human ingenuity has helped ease the burden of work, made possible extraordinary achievements, where people surpass themselves – and saved time, which turned out to be a problematic aspect. Technology is a three-sided coin, as it contributes not only to intended problem solving but also to negative not intended social effects. The third side has to do with its potential for other benefits than those it was intended for. The outcome depends on values and creativity in the technical application, e.g. in terms of design of the work organization – there are always human choices. In that choice human rationality unfortunately tends to disregard human needs.
