Industry 5.0 and advancements of artificial intelligence are changing our perspective of Operator 5.0. The design of cognitive automation was explored in a case study where two scenarios could be reached at a rubber factory: 1) the operator works as a slave to superior technology or 2) the operator works as a cyborg that uses available technology to enhance its capabilities for decision-making. The two scenarios are used with three available theoretical frameworks to highlight how design choices affect operator-machine interaction. The purpose of this article is to explore how operator interaction scenarios can be used to understand design choices for cognitive automation. The theoretical frameworks are: i) the MABA-MABA list, ii) Cognitive automation strategy and iii) user-centered design. Results show that the theoretical models do not support avoiding a high-risk outcome of system design. The next step in the design process is to study sub-tasks and assign cognitive automation levels to them according to what humans do best together with the operators that will be using the system. Future work includes developing team personas and further elaborating on the slave and cyborg scenario using foresight