GDPR-compliant AI-based automated decision-making in the world of work

Artificial Intelligence is spreading fast in our everyday life and the world of work is no exception. AI is increasingly shaping the employment context: such emerging areas are augmented and automated decision-making. As AI-based decision-making is fuelled by personal data, compliance with data protection frameworks is inevitable. Even though automated decision-making is already addressed by the European norms on data protection – especially the GDPR –, their application in the world of work raises specific questions. The paper examines, in the light of the ‘general’ data protection background, what specific data protection challenges are raised in the field of AI-based automated decision-making in the context of employment. As a result of the research, the paper provides a detailed overview on the European legal framework on the data protection aspects of AI-based automated decision-making in the employment context. It identifies the main challenges, such as the applicability of the existing legal framework to the current use-cases and the specific questions relating to the lawful bases in the world of work, and provides guidelines on how to address these challenges.