Last week, the SKillAIbility consortium held its first General Assembly in Milan, hosted by Politecnico di Milano (POLIMI) and MADE Competence Center. This key event brought together all 14 project partners from across Europe to review progress and define the next steps in shaping a more inclusive, AI-augmented manufacturing workforce.
The meeting kicked off with updates on Work Package 2 , which is developing the project’s foundational framework by analyzing technical, societal, and technological needs related to AI and human task complementarities. The work also explores the megatrend impacts such as ageing, migration, and the green transition, and showcased early results from co-creation activities involving workers, educators, and citizen groups.
Work Package 3 leaders presented its criteria for assessing the socio-technical impact of AI on human work. Their “Augmented Workforce Canvas” aims to evaluate how technology can complement human roles and ensure inclusivity from the design stage—especially for groups like deaf or older workers.
A major focus of the assembly was Work Package 5, which is developing design principles for human-centric AI systems. These principles aim to ensure that AI technologies empower workers, support collaboration between humans and machines, and reflect ethical and social values. WP5 also presented progress on its Design Science Research (DSR) methodology, ensuring AI is developed iteratively with human feedback.
The consortium also reviewed Work Package 6, which is preparing for the piloting phase. Partners will test SKillAIbility’s approaches in real-world learning factories, focusing on use cases like human augmentation, empowerment, and inclusivity.
Work Package 4 leaders shared updates on the development of human-tech training designs, including methodologies for vocational and lifelong learning. Their work focuses on inclusive learning factories that use AI, AR/VR, and robotics to train diverse workers.
Finally, leaders of Work Package 7 presented the early plans, focused on exploitation and policy. Their goal is to translate SKillAIbility’s outcomes into actionable policy recommendations and business models for long-term impact.
