In this episode of Real economy, Euronews travels to the Netherlands to looks at Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its implications in terms of productivity and privacy.

Euronews goes to the Netherlands, to see how Dutch supermarket Picnic is attempting to revolutionise the online grocery sector with highly automated centres in Utrecht, which are full of AI tech.

The company says that the adoption of AI has created lots of new quality jobs, for instance in fields like data analysis, while removing much of the hard graft done by workers in its distribution and fulfilment hubs.

But what happens when AI technology becomes intrusive? Joseph Skull is a bicycle courier in Amsterdam. He says he’s had enough constantly being monitored by the company whilst on shift. Dutch unions agree, saying more should be done to reign in delivery firms and especially their use of AI algorithms in the bid to improve productivity.

One concern is that AI will lead to more, not less precarious work, in the so-called gig economy, and diminish job quality by using AI-powered algorithmic management tools.

Experts and policymakers met at the 2023 EU Social Forum in Brussels to discuss how to reap the benefits of AI while also ensuring fairness, inclusion and safety at work.

"What is important is that we do not hamper this technological change, but we make sure that we are identifying the measures we need to protect workers," says the European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights, Nicolas Schmit.

Another topic covered by the episode is training and improving digital skills. In the future, 90 percent of jobs will rely on such skills. Right now, more than a third of the EU’s labour force lacks what’s currently required.

Nobel Prize-winning economist from the London School of Economics, Christopher Pissarides, says workers should try to adapt.

"I am not a techno pessimist," Commissioner Schmit added, concluding that, "We can have a better world thanks to technology. We can have better work organisation, taking away from people the repetitive or tedious work. But this means that we have to keep control. It's not about predicting the future or fearing the future. It's finally to shape the future. That's what we have to do".