The EC’s AI Act proposes a regulatory approach to the use of AI systems. It does not address the specificities of employment and the protection of fundamental and workers’ rights. In its current version, it is not designed to deal with the privacy and data protection risks of AI, but to promote the growth of a European AI sector, in line with the EC’s oftentimes stated ambition to make the EU a global AI leader. Civil society actors, MEPs and the EDPS have asked the EC to ban remote biometric identification technologies in public spaces. Others, in particular the labour movement, are concerned about the abuse of surveillance technologies in the workplace. How to balance promoting AI and protecting people’s rights? This and other essential questions such as -absence of redress mechanisms, liability, governance - will be addressed in this panel discussion.
• Can the AI Act address the specificity of AI uses in employment, including platform work?
• How to balance promoting AI and protecting people’s rights?
• Can the AI Act clearly ban both mass surveillance and worker surveillance?
• How can GDPR be effectively implemented in the context of employment?
