Artificial Intelligence – IA360 Plan

Artificial intelligence has burst onto the scene with remarkable force, and this is undeniable. This new technology is already being used across virtually every sphere of society — domestic, economic, military and beyond — and is characterised by its universal reach and increasingly easy accessibility.

In the employment context, this means that both companies and employees are increasingly making use of AI to carry out tasks connected with the employment relationship. Underlying this trend is not only the desire of companies and employees to increase productivity, but also the inevitable concern of being left behind by the new business landscape that is beginning to take shape with the emergence of AI and the technologies associated with it.

Against this backdrop, companies and employees are, for the time being, able to use AI with relative ease, particularly given that the existing European and Spanish regulatory framework is not yet particularly extensive. The main applicable rules include:

• Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 (the EU AI Act), one of whose main features is the establishment of a risk-based classification of AI systems;
• Article 64.4(d) of the Spanish Workers’ Statute, which recognises the right of employees’ legal representatives to be informed by the company of the parameters, rules and instructions on which algorithms or artificial intelligence systems are based; and
• The GDPR and the Spanish Data Protection Act (LOPDGDD), particularly as regards decisions based solely on automated processing that produce legal effects or similarly significantly affect the person concerned.

Although other provisions also have implications for AI, such as Article 23 of Spanish Law 15/2022, the reality is that the current legal framework is still at an early stage when it comes to regulating a technology that remains difficult for the general public to fully understand and which, consequently, many voices consider to be insufficiently regulated.

It is against this background of uncertainty that the Spanish Government, through President Pedro Sánchez, announced on 21 September its intention to launch the IA360 Plan, a strategic framework intended to serve as a roadmap for the responsible deployment of AI in Spain over the coming year.

The IA360 Plan is expected to focus on four main areas: strengthening Spain’s technological capabilities and developing new infrastructure; promoting the adoption of AI throughout Spanish society as a driver of economic growth and talent development; building an AI governance framework; and, finally — and of particular importance from an employment law perspective — promoting a new “social contract” for AI.

As regards this proposed “social contract” for AI, the Government has already announced that discussions with the social partners — employers’ organisations and trade unions — will begin next month. Political parties and civil society organisations are also expected to be involved, with the aim of reaching a broad national agreement to mitigate the impact of the transition currently underway in the world of work.

In other words, it is highly likely that, over the coming year, Spain will develop a clearer and more specific regulatory framework governing the limits applicable to the use of technologies derived from artificial intelligence. It is hoped that this new framework will allow this new technology to coexist with the rights of all those involved in the employment relationship — companies and employees alike.