How artificial intelligence can affect working life and labor relations

Given the current context, artificial intelligence can also change the working life of any professional. With access to the tool and a trained platform, the help that a worker can obtain in terms of efficiency and productivity is very high. And this, if it becomes the norm, will of course affect labor relations with companies. 

Juan José Jiménez, a partner in the labor area, comments in Expansión (for subscribers only) that it will mean “a significant change that transforms production models.”

He adds that it is not about reducing working hours in favor of technology: “An artificial intelligence agent is capable of generating work with a certain degree of autonomy, but AI agents are not workers per se... It may be that one does the work in less time (reduction of working hours), or that we work the same amount of time, working harder.”

In addition, our labor lawyer indicates that "the company can require its professionals to master artificial intelligence if it implements it in the production process. And if so, the company has an obligation to provide training to its employees.“ Even if an employee fails to adapt to this new way of working, ”there would be the possibility of terminating the contract for ‘supervening incompetence,’ but for this to happen, artificial intelligence tools must be considered essential to the job. Only then can the possibility of dismissing someone who fails to adapt be considered."

And if an employee uses their own AI tool to do their job, who would own this AI? Our expert explains: “It is not the same if the AI agent was created before the employment relationship began as if the professional creates it while already working for the company.”