Professors of BSC

Simon Taes is a PhD Candidate since September 2018 at the Institute for Labour Law (ILL) at KU Leuven. He obtained a Master’s degree in Psychology cum laude at KU Leuven (specialisation in labour and occupational psychology). In addition, he obtained a Master’s degree in Law cum laude at KU Leuven (specialisation in social and economic law). He attended several conferences and presented his papers about robotisation and labour law on several occasions. In October 2019, he was invited to explain the impact of robotisation on the health and safety of employees at the ILO Centenary Conference at KU Leuven in cooperation with the ILO Office of Brussels. In June 2021, he presented at the fifth Labour Law Research Network Conference in Warschaw his research about the right to privacy of workers and robotisation in light of the human-centred agenda. In June 2023, he will give a presentation about the occupational safety and health risks related to autonomous robots and AI and the way workers’ wellbeing can be safeguarded by legal remedies in labour law.

This course provides an overview of issues related to AI from a labour law perspective. The first part of this course looks at the several applications of AI in workplaces and the rise of Industry 4.0. The second part deals with the implications of AI for the employment of workers and the labour markets. In this part, a few legal and policy recommendations to avoid the so-called technological unemployment are also discussed. The third part of the course focuses on the quality aspects of labour and looks into the consequences of AI for workers’ health and safety, the right to privacy and the division of responsibility in the workplaces. In this regard, some proposed legal remedies in labour law to address these consequences are also discussed during the course. The final part of the course summarizes the issues related to AI in the workplaces and elaborates the (required) safeguards in labour law to address these issues.