BAI

Background

Progressive generalization of the use of robotics and artificial intelligence in the workplace. After an initial period of uncertainty, in which the fear of the disappearance of jobs that are replaced by robots, is becoming increasingly clear that this irreversible change also provides opportunities and changes in the labor market that must be understood to be seized.

The profile of the workers of the future requires the development of certain competences, among them: emotional intelligence, teamwork, adaptability, critical thinking and problem solving. But, in addition, the progressive incorporation of artificial intelligence to companies predicts, in a short-medium term, a disruption in labor relations, in which who conducts the job interview, decides the selection or dismissal of an employee is an artificial intelligence (as already happens in Amazon in the US).

What skills and competencies allow you to understand these new work realities? Who is my new coworker and how do I interact with it? Recently the EC published the study THE CHANGING NATURE OF WORK: AND SKILLS IN THE DIGITAL AGE in which the disruptive nature of digital transformation was revealed, not only by modifying the way in which the work is carried out, but in the generation of new professions and in the modification of labor relations in which human beings have to interact with artificial intelligence and robots in a hitherto unknown way. This new labour context demands from workers the capacity to adapt to new working methods, work organisation and tools. BAI project seeks to promote the understanding of the nature and extent of the changing working environments and to develop a training itinerary that allows active and future workers to cope with the new labor relations that arise from the emergence of robots and artificial intelligence at work. The main general objective is to support workers to develop the necessary skills to deal efficiently and satisfactorily with the challenges they pose.

The project specific objectives are:

  • To provide European workers with the necessary knowledge to enable them to understand how the nature of work is changing and what are the current and expected short-medium term scenarios in which they will have to operate.
  • To promote literacy in artificial intelligence and robotics, illustrating concrete examples from a diversity of sectors and jobs.
  • To facilitate the development of non-cognitive skills that have been shown to be essential in new work environments.
  • To raise awareness on the implications on the jobs and working relationships of the incorporation of artificial intelligence and robotics into the labour market from a transversal and multisectoral perspective.

The main target groups addressed by the project are, primarily, workers and especially those with low qualifications or who are in occupations more vulnerable to be transformed at the short-medium term because of the automatization or digital transformation.

Also, human resources managers and training managers in companies, who are responsible to provide the workers with the necessary resources to deal changes in the workplace. As secondary target groups, we also address Labour counsellors and employment agencies, Social agents and business representatives and VET centers working on formal education, that will be able to use the results of the project to promote a better understanding of the workspaces generated by the inclusion of robots and artificial intelligence and help workers (current and future) to develop the skills necessary to function in them.

BAI results:

The main results of the BAI project are the following:

  • Result 1 (IO1)-BAI CASE STUDIES: bots and Artificial Intelligence implications in new working environments Case studies will illustrate in a simple way already real experiences of how these new work environments are which implications they have for workers at the level of skills and competencies. We will carry out an intersectoral analysis of real cases in work environments in which robots and / or artificial intelligence interact/ co-work.
  • Result 1 (IO2) – TRAINING ON AI LITERACY AND KEY SOFT-SKILLS for workers in the digital age A training will address the development of those skills and abilities necessary to function in a work environment in which humans, robots and artificial intelligence coexist, inculding at least the following topics: *Robotics and artificial intelligence literacy – basics on history and key concepts about AI and robotics. *The new working environments – description on the digital transformation of the working environments and implications for the labour relationships. *Key competences in digital working environments – emotional intelligence, teamwork, adaptability, critical thinking and problems solving.

BAI project respond to the imminent need of European workers, who, regardless of their economic sectors and occupations, will see their work environments transformed in the short-medium term, by the emergence of robotics and artificial intelligence. Furthermore, we aim to raise awareness and promote a change of attitude in both workers and employers, so that they are aware that, to a greater or lesser extent, the entire business and occupations will be affected by these changes and their implications. Having illustrative case studies will help them understand these changes and give clues on how to adapt to them. The training will be essential to start a process of updating knowledge and developing skills that, as experts point out, will be key in the coming decades.