Refers to two different ways that technology, including artificial intelligence (AI), can be used to perform tasks:

• Augmentation uses technology to support or extend human abilities while the person remains actively involved in thinking, decision-making, or performing the work.
• Automation transfers some or all of a task to technology, reducing the amount of human involvement required.

In human-AI collaboration, the distinction is important because AI can either help people perform work themselves or perform portions of the work for them. Augmentation and automation are not necessarily opposites; a single activity may include elements of both.