The term “peripheralization” describes the process of role change which accompanies increased levels of
automation.
Peripheralization is a complex
psychobiological state which occurs as a consequence of automation. It has been proposed that automation results in role changes where humans are shifted from being in direct contact to being a machine prosthesis, a system maintainer or manager.
Here is an example of peripheralization as seen through operating a UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle):
As the operation of the UAV is indeed primarily autonomous, much of the control will be found in lines of program codes, even before the mission is to begin. In its Command Mode when operation of the UAV is semi-autonomous, a time delay from when the command is sent to the time of command expedition might hinder the operator’s situational awareness. If commands were to be entered by lines of program code instead of more direct methods, the operator risks diverting most or all attention to the code itself rather than keeping the UAV within its flight parameters.