Seminar ‘The Legal Challenges in the Digitalisation of Work’
Prof. Cécile Nicod (Université Lumière Lyon 2) and Prof. Michael Doherty (Maynooth University) participated in a panel discussion organised by the Research Centre for Technology Law & Policy (lead by Dr David Mangan), entitled ‘The Legal Challenges in the Digitalisation of Work‘. The event took place at the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin (Ireland) and focused on the challenges and benefits of the introduction and use of AI at the workplace.
Prof Nicod and Prof Doherty drew on their work from the DIGILARE project to discuss issues such as:
- What does good use of AI in the work setting look like?
- What role is there for AI in the workplace in the short and medium term?
- Has the EU over-regulated in the area of techonology and work (GDPR, AI Act, PWD, P2B Regulation)?
- What role does EU and national law provide for workers representatives in relation to the introduction and use of AI at the workplace?
- Is better data protection in workplaces needed?
- Does the rise in platform labour signal the decrease in full-time employment? Will work be a series of ‘gigs’?
- There is a concept called cobots (robot colleagues). Is AI paving the way for a reduction in the human workforce, and their replacement with cobots?
The event also featured contributions from a range of Irish stakeholders including Julie Galbraith (Partner, Head of Employment and Labour, Eversheds Sutherland Law firm); Gareth Murphy (Head of Industrial Relations and Campaigns, Financial Services Union); and Harry Wall (Associate Legal Director, Irish Business and Employers Confederation- Ibec).