At its closed-door meeting today, the SPD parliamentary group in the German Bundestag intends to adopt new guidelines on the use of artificial intelligence in the workplace. Among other things, it plans to impose higher taxes on productivity gains from AI and on large technology companies. eco Chair Oliver Süme comments:
“Germany has set itself ambitious targets for the use of AI in the economy. It is therefore all the more important for political measures to support this development rather than impede it through additional costs and bureaucratic hurdles. However, the SPD proposals now under discussion for a possible AI tax give the impression that using AI could become more expensive and burdensome for companies. That would be the wrong approach.
“AI is no longer an issue that concerns only IT specialists. Two out of three AI roles are now outside IT. A recent study by IW Consult, commissioned by eco – Association of the Internet Industry, shows that Germany’s strength as a business location stems from the combination of industry expertise, data and engineering skills, with a measurable economic impact: AI-supported product innovations and new services already generate more than €120 billion in turnover.
“In industry in particular, AI is increasingly becoming a key skill requirement, including for skilled workers: the proportion of relevant job advertisements at skilled-worker level has risen significantly since 2019. This shows that AI is having a direct impact on day-to-day work in industry and on traditional specialist roles.
“This makes one thing clear: AI is essential to industry’s capacity to innovate and opens up new opportunities for employees. We should promote this transformation rather than impede it through new levies or additional regulation.
“Clear and reliable rules are also needed for employee data protection. A new German law on employee data protection should not diverge from European requirements and thereby create additional obligations and legal uncertainty for companies. AI must not put Germany at a competitive disadvantage.”
About the study
The study was conducted by IW Consult GmbH on behalf of eco – Association of the Internet Industry. Based on a broad survey of companies and AI start-ups, an analysis of online job advertisements and a literature review, it examines the use, value creation and infrastructure of artificial intelligence in Germany.
The study can be downloaded here. Further information is available here.
