Launched last November 19, the 5-year LaborIA program, financed by the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Integration and operated by Matrice, an institute for technological and social innovation, has been joined by Inria. Its mission is to ” better understand artificial intelligence and its effects on work, employment, skills and social dialogue in order to change business practices and public action . In September, Matrice will begin a survey to better measure the impact of AI in 250 companies as well as field investigations.

LaborIA is part of the PMIA initiative, which aims to bridge the gap between AI theory and practice by supporting cutting-edge research and applied activities on AI-related priorities. One of the working groups of this initiative is dedicated to the “Future of Work” theme , it is affiliated with the PMIA Expertise Center in Paris and hosted by INRIA and conducts, among other things, analyses on how AI affects and will affect workers and their environment. The creation of LaborIA responds to the recommendations of the Future of Work Group and is in line with the National Strategy for AI

Anticipating the impact of AI in business

According to the OECD, 32% of jobs will be impacted by automation over the next twenty years. To support these transformations and prepare companies and employees for them, the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Integration and INRIA have joined forces to create a resource and experimentation center for AI in the workplace: LaborIA

Elisabeth Borne stated at the time:

“The transformations that our society is undergoing, such as the digital and ecological transitions, have an impact that can be observed concretely in our daily lives. The world of work is no exception and this will increase in the coming years with the rise of artificial intelligence, for example. It will profoundly change the way we produce, recruit and even organize social dialogue. We are launching this unique research program today, in partnership with Inria and the Matrice Institute, to understand these changes and prepare companies and workers for them as best as possible. “

The LaborIA program

The LaborIA program must first consider the relationship of companies and public actors to AI, and then, in a second phase, deploy concrete experiments, in the workplace, on various topics: working conditions, evolution of skills, recruitment, technological social dialogue …

It also aims to create a place for debate and exchange between all actors of civil society, social partners and public decision-makers.

The first project of the program

The first project of this research program will be operated by Matrice, a technological and social innovation institute founded in 2016, which is a training organization, an incubator, a research center, an innovation laboratory and a place for artistic creation.

The first part will be dedicated to building a barometer on AI at work. To this end, Matrice will conduct a survey of 250 companies starting next September.

Jean Condé, Strategic and Scientific Director at Matrice, states:

“We are working with the OpinionWay polling institute. Telephone interviews lasting about 15 minutes will be conducted with about 250 decision-makers from different departments in organizations that have a project underway or finalized: innovation departments, IT departments, HR departments…”

He adds:

“We will then continue with about ten decision makers in a three-stage “longitudinal” study, the idea of which is to interview organizations at different stages of their AI project deployment. “

Matrice will also conduct field investigations from next September until December 2023 to understand the mechanisms at play in the process of appropriation of AI systems by employees. It is possible for companies to register on the institute’s website to benefit from this evaluation for free.

Jean Condé explains:

“We need to find decision-makers who accept that we come and make observations in their company on workstations, as well as interesting use cases in relation to the problem of the influence of AI on work and the way it can ” impact” workers.”

On the other hand, Matrice organizes various seminars at the Barillet workshop, within its premises, open to any company that is considering introducing AI systems. The next one will take place in November, the fee is 500€ per participant for a one-day seminar.

Translated from LaborIA : Matrice lance une enquête sur l’impact de l’intelligence artificielle sur le travail en septembre prochain