Embodied Virtual Agents: Expected Impact of Labor Relations

Abstract

The integration of artificial intelligence into the workplace is reshaping the employee-employer relationship, generally strengthening employers’ positions and complicating positions of workers. Until recently, AI deployment has been largely confined to applications with limited autonomy and to industrial and service robotics. By late 2024, however, leading technology firms announced the expected introduction of «virtual employees» in 2025, with the embodied virtual agents defined as autonomous intelligent systems capable of performing an expanding array of tasks, including many creative functions previously carried out by humans. Fueled by advances in generative AI, these agents are moving beyond gaming and virtual education into core economic activities. The capabilities of virtual employees risk exacerbating existing imbalances in labor relations and raise urgent questions for labor law. The study examines the legal challenges posed by embodied virtual agents and evaluates regulatory approaches to reconcile employers’ technological opportunities with the protection of workers’ social and labor rights.

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