The recent advances in technology, and particularly artificial intelligence, are having an extremely profound effect on very diverse sectors, including that of the judiciary in its various manifestations. The work presented here analyses some of the more recent developments in artificial intelligence in the field of the application of law, with the aim of discerning the point up to which we are approaching the idea – not so utopian now  – of the AI judge and the automated application of law. The analysis is structured in three different areas, which are at the same time complimentary: firstly, there is an analysis of the conceptual aspect (what distinct elements and activities involve the judicial application of law, with the aim of determining what processes would be necessary to automate in order to be able to speak of an “AI judge”); secondly, a number of recent technologies and applications are presented which would influence in some way the application of law, with the purpose of determining at what point we would find ourselves with respect to a process of automation; and finally, there will be a brief reflection on the possible positive or negative effects an automation of the application of law would involve.

The trend of artificial intelligence is arriving in public administrations, even if this is happening at a slower pace than in other sectors. Today, there are already some public administrations which use artificial intelligence in data analysis, decision-making, fraud detection and irregularities, and the provision of public services. The use of artificial intelligence creates a number of challenges for public administrations that need to be addressed, such as the current lack of transparency, the biases and discrimination, the decrease in guarantees in the processing of administrative procedures, the responsibility for damages caused by the use of artificial intelligence, and its impact on public employment. Artificial intelligence is one of the foundations of intelligent governance; it must include all people in order to contribute to a sustainable development.

This article analyses the reasons that limit the adoption of new technologies and slow down the digital transformation process of companies in the industrial sector. Beyond technical or economic aspects, the origin of the slowdown lies in the lack of transversality of existing professional profiles in the context of Industry 4.0. In view of this, the article also analyses the labour impact and the new professional profiles that will be necessary to deal with the digital transformation process, as well as the role that will be played by experts, working groups and diagnostic tools in this process.

The technologies based on artificial intelligence and robotics are one of the leading challenges facing us now with regards to the future of human work. The so-called Industry 4.0 is placing various business models in doubt, transforming training requirements for the system of production, and is progressively impacting on the distribution of profit.

The Spanish labour market provides a good example of how this new wave of technological change can have an impact on the levels and especially the structure of employment. A growing polarisation can be seen in labour demand and employment opportunities in accordance with educational levels and the various effects of labour imbalance, which are principally attributable to the characteristics of a dominant production model that is intensive in tasks of a routine nature but not particularly active in the incorporation of emerging technologies.

This article analyses the concept of industrial revolution, from its origins at the end of the 19th century up to the current excitement surrounding a supposed Fourth Industrial Revolution. Despite being an idea that is firmly embedded in the Western cultural imagination and in the field of academics, numerous historiographic, economic and sociological studies carried out in recent decades have deeply questioned it. In this article we will explore, on the one hand, its most widely-known deficiencies – which for many make it a spurious concept, loaded with erroneous suppositions and an obsolete vision of technological development - and, on the other, some of the ideological and political effects of its use.

This article analyses the relationship between the uses of Industry 4.0 technologies (I4.0), the value generation and firm results. Based on a sample of 1,525 Spanish industrial firms for 2014, the uses of four basic I4.0 technologies are identified: 1) computer-aided industrial design (CAD); 2) robotics; 3) flexible production systems; and 4) the activity’s numerical control machinery and software, an additional indicator is constructed and the statistical association with the value generation and firm results are studied. The research has obtained three main results. First of all, it is worth noting its incipience. 72.5% of Spanish industrial firms either do not use or use very moderately the I4.0 technologies. Despite of this and secondly, it should be noted that the uses of these technologies are associated with a value generating process in industrial firms which is more intensive in R&D and human capital, more innovative, more digital and more sustainable. And, thirdly, the research also concludes that firms with more intensive uses of I4.0 technologies have better results in terms of sales, value added, exports and gross operating margin. Productivity and employment results are especially relevant. I4.0 intensive industrial firms are 30% more efficient than firms that do not use these technologies. They are also able to take on a much larger number of employees (twice the industrial average) and to pay them much better (12.4% above the industrial average). Finally, the article also discusses the role that I4.0 could play as a new general purpose technology.