  With the increasing complexity of modern industrial automatic and robotic
systems, an increasing burden is put on the operators, who are requested to
supervise and interact with very complex systems, typically under challenging
and stressful conditions. To overcome this issue, it is necessary to adopt a
responsible approach based on the anthropocentric design methodology, such that
machines adapt to the humans capabilities, and not vice versa. Moving along
these lines, in this paper we consider an integrated methodological design
approach, which we call MATE, consisting in devising complex automatic or
robotic solutions that measure current operator's status, adapting the
interaction accordingly, and providing her/him with proper training to improve
the interaction and learn lacking skills and expertise. Accordingly, a MATE
system is intended to be easily usable for all users, thus meeting the
principles of inclusive design. Using such a MATE system gives rise to several
ethical and social implications, which are discussed in this paper.
Additionally, a discussion about which factors in the organization of companies
are critical with respect to the introduction of a MATE system is presented.
