Including persons with disabilities in the development of new technologies and AI – possibilities, challenges, risks and opportunities

Social rights
Disability

Background

Article 27 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), which was ratified both by the EU in 2011 and by each Member State, recognises the right of persons with disabilities to work on an equal basis with others. In 2022, the European Commission launched the Disability Employment Package to help move forward with the implementation of measures aimed at complying with the UNCRPD in the EU, in line with its Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2021-2030. When it comes to AI, the Accessibility Act sets the basis for minimum accessibility requirements, reiterating the need to increase accessibility of available and future technologies, including AI.

New technologies and AI allow for new opportunities for persons with disabilities when it comes to education, employment and participation in society. However, the solutions developed have to be accessible and persons with disabilities considered when developing them. Low levels of digital skills and the digitalisation of the labour market, together with the substitution of low-value jobs by AI solutions risks increasing the socio-economic exclusion of persons with disabilities if the digital gap is not closed.

The opinion aims to assess the impact of new technologies and AI both in terms of facilitating the inclusion of people with disabilities but also as a potential source of discrimination, namely  through the use of AI algorithms in the area of employee assessment and recruitment, as well as in the area of customer positioning and selection for the needs of commercial companies from the banking and insurance sector.

Key points

In this opinion, the EESC:

  • believes it is crucial to include persons with disabilities throughout the process of designing, developing, assessing and implementing new technologies and AI-based applications. This involvement is key to mitigating potential discriminatory risks;
  • invites the Member States and the EU to audit and evaluate to what extent AI applications are inclusive in critical fields;
  • believes further follow-up is required to protect persons with disabilities from the harmful application of supposedly limited risk systems, particularly in the field of employment and recruitment;
  • underlines the importance of ensuring the general accessibility of services and goods that apply new technologies and AI based solutions;
  • believes that Member States must ensure that the opportunities generated by new technological developments and AI applications are translated by employers into accessibility improvements and reasonable accommodation for employees with disabilities;
  • recommends increasing public expenditure on research and development of AI based solutions for accessibility and technological assistance, and improving public knowledge about these technological advances;
  • urges Member States to implement and increase the existing programmes on digital skilling for persons with disabilities, to improve their current situation and qualifications in these fields, while working to increase the inclusion of persons with disabilities in tertiary education and vocational training in technological sectors;
  • highlights the need to promote reasonable accommodation for employees with disabilities in the workplace, including in public and private recruitment processes, skilling and vocational training as well as in tertiary education.

The text of the draft opinion can be found here.

Additional information

Section: Employment, Social Affairs and Citizenship (SOC)

Opinion number: SOC/816

Opinion type: Exploratory, Presidency

Rapporteur: Dovilė JUODKAITĖ

Date of adoption by section: 11/03/2025

Result of the vote: 51 in favour/0 against/0 abstentions

Date of adoption in plenary: xxxx – xxxx

Result of the vote:   in favour/ against/ abstentions

Contacts

Press officer: Leonard Mallett

Tel.: 00 32 2 546 93 37

Email: Leonard.Mallett@eesc.europa.eu  

 

Administrator: Valeria Atzori

Tel.: +32 2 546 87 74

Email: Valeria.Atzori@eesc.europa.eu