An international study predicts that the development of robotics will pave the way for a radical overhaul of current work practices and legal frameworks. According to the report published by the IBA, the powerful international association of lawyers, innovation in artificial intelligence could, among other things, force governments to legislate to impose human quotas in certain activities.
Ae report s 120-page report, which focuses on the legal implications of rapid technological change, was produced by a team of specialized lawyers atIBAThe International Bar Association, which acts as a global forum for the legal profession.
The survey confirms several previously published studies that predict that a considerable number of jobs will be replaced by robots or software, all over the world. In this perspective, the authors point out, as a form of warning, that the current legal frameworks governing employment and security will rapidly become obsolete. Similarly, the competitive advantage gained by some emerging countries in the production of goods by low-cost labour is likely to fade significantly. They point out that the hourly cost of a robot's work is between €5 and €8, and is already cheaper than a Chinese worker. Not to mention that a robot does not get sick, does not take holidays and never goes on strike.
The main author of the report, Gerlind Wisskirchen, a German lawyer specialising in employment law in Cologne and Vice President of the IBA, told the British daily newspaper The Guardian : " What is new in the current revolution is the speed at which change is occurring. Jobs at all levels of society, currently held by humans, are likely to be affected by robots and artificial intelligence. Legislation currently in place to protect workers will no longer be adequate in the face of this increased automation. "
Faced with this phenomenon, the authors believe that governments will be obliged, for example, to decide which jobs should be exclusively occupied by humans: " The State could introduce a kind of "human quota" in all sectors and decide whether to put a "made by human" label on marketed products. "
This report, written by legal experts, also focuses on the problems of liability that will arise with the widespread use of intelligent machines. A problem that could prove "insurmountable" in certain areas such as fully automated vehicles or autonomous machines in factories. To what extent should robots be given autonomy? This question could be solved, according to the authors of the report, in a military principle adopted by many armies: "... the use of robots in the military is not only a matter of military policy, but also a matter of military policy. always put a human in the loop "to prevent weapons, and in particular fully autonomous drones, from selecting their own targets and firing without a human decision.
Beyond these borderline cases, the development of robots and AI is growing exponentially around the world. The most advanced nation in the robotization race is South Korea, which "employs" 437 robots for every 10,000 employees in the processing industries. This figure is 323 for Japan and 282 for Germany. All jobs are concerned. The lawyers who authored the report thus point out that certain non-industrial occupations are also likely to be strongly impacted. This is the case for accountants, clerks, some employees of tax authorities and perhaps even some lawyers who are at risk of unemployment. A study conducted in England by the auditing firm Deloitte estimates that 100,000 jobs in the UK legal sector will be automated over the next 20 years.
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Even in departments that have hitherto relied on interpersonal relationships, robots are taking advantage. The report cites the case of Japan, where humanoid robots are now being deployed in some hotels such as the Henn-na Hotel from Sasebo. Not only do these perfectly multilingual robots greet guests, but they are responsible for cleaning the rooms, carrying luggage and, since 2016, even cooking. The hotel managers have planned to replace 90 %s of their employees with robots. Only a few humans will remain for surveillance tasks... robots.
In the face of this revolution in robotics and its introduction everywhere in society, the rights and protection of humans must be seriously considered. This is the thrust of the IBA report. But other avenues are evoked almost everywhere in the world and in particular that of the universal income carried by both left-wing (for example Benoît Hamon in the French presidential campaign) and right-wing voices. This is the case of this initiative launched by several French industrialists, some of whom are supporters of François Fillon, to affirm that the idea wasn't that bad and was even "pretty" smart. Behind these assertions lies a way to calm social risks and to allow the free deployment of robotics, one of the virtues of which, let us not forget, is the improvement of productivity and the end of human constraint in the work process.
