Defining Human-centredness - a systematic review

Paper in proceeding, 2026

Since the introduction of the Industry 5.0 concept in 2021 research attention to "human-centeredness" has increased significantly. Fourteen thousand articles mention the concept, but it is often vaguely defined. In this study a systematic review was conducted, and 96 articles including Human-centeredness, Industry 5.0 or Industry 4.0 and definitions in them were reviewed. The aim was to clarify how human-centeredness can be defined and operationalized. It was seen that only 12 papers provided a definition of human-centeredness; three included a general definition and 11 included specific definition e.g. human-centered digital twin or human-centered AI. Human-centeredness is applied in many different settings, from manufacturing to human-centered AI. In the analysis differences and similarities of the found definitions were studied, investigating the level of detail, aspects included in the various definitions, and how the definitions vary across the applications of the human-centeredness, e.g. human-centered AI and human-centeredness cyber-physical systems. A definition was suggested that could support practitioners and make human-centeredness less vague and provide guidance for how to work with human-centeredness in industry. This is important not least for human-centered manufacturing and for aligning work towards the vision presented in Industry 5.0. Keywords: Human-centeredness; Industry 5.0; Industry 4.0; Systematic review.