The German far-right political party Alternative for Germany made history last month when it won the election in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt. Though the party, known by its German initials AfD, fell just short of an absolute majority, it may still be able to implement parts of its anti-immigration platform.
Among the tools the party hopes to use? Artificial intelligence.
The manifesto released earlier this year by the Saxony-Anhalt association of the AfD proposes the development of a state-level strategy for “technological upgrading, digitalization, and AI.” This plan, which appears under the heading “Immigration and Remigration,” also includes a funding program to encourage small businesses to utilize more technology.
The end goal, the document notes, is to “prevent the immigration of skilled workers from culturally alien backgrounds.”
“What I took from this is that they just really want to emphasize that they don’t want any kind of immigration, even skilled migration,” said April Reber, a postdoctoral researcher at Marburg University who specializes in the history of the AfD.
Experts, however, are skeptical that such a policy would work.
“I don’t think that’s really realistic,” said Jonathan Olsen, a professor of political science at Texas Woman’s University who has extensively studied the AfD’s political strategies. “Germany has a declining birth rate, right? So there are going to be fewer Germans to go around to fill these positions, and then we’re looking at things like paying into the pension system. Germany needs skilled labor.”
A recent study from the Berlin Institute for Population and Development found that Germany’s working-age population is projected to decrease by 4.7% by 2045, as first reported by DW.
Yvonne Giesing, an economics lecturer at The University of Western Australia Business School who has studied the impact of automation and AI on German immigration, said that the Saxony-Anhalt AfD’s AI policy is “more like their dream and not what is actually realistic.”
In fact, Giesing noted, such a policy of embracing AI may actually backfire and harm native-born workers disproportionately, since many migrants are employed in fields that require manual labor and may not be easily replaced by AI.
According to The Federal Statistical Office of Germany, the five largest occupational groups among employed first-generation immigrants (accounting for 35% of employment) are transport and logistics; medical and healthcare; cleaning; business management and organization; and sales.
In some instances, AI may even help migrants — both unskilled and skilled — navigate traditional obstacles in employment more easily, further countering the AfD’s goals.
“Another thing I think is really interesting with AI at the moment is that it really reduces any kind of language barrier,” said Giesing. “In the past — I’m now thinking like 10, 20 years ago — one big problem of migrants in the labor market would be the language issue. But I think with AI, I really see that this area is breaking down.”
The AfD is not the first to propose technologization as a way to reduce immigration. In 2024, the Tory politician Chris Philp suggested that British businesses should use more robots instead of migrants. Earlier this year, Team Mirai, a tech-centered political party in Japan founded by software engineers, said that the increased use of AI could result in fewer foreign workers.
Reber also cautioned that the manifesto may also not be a true representation of the policies that voters care about, given the length and exhausting process of making such a document.
“They vote on each issue. And it’s very, it takes a really long time. And usually people are just done, and there are side conversations going on, and sometimes they’ll just be like, ‘yes, we support this,’ and they won’t even really spend a lot of time on each statement.”
Yet the Saxony-Anhalt AfD’s stance on AI can also be understood as one of many ways the party is trying to wield limited state powers. The core issue of the party, immigration, is one that is legislated at the federal level, an arena where the AfD does not yet have control. However, states in Germany reserve significant powers like education, healthcare, and cultural policy.
Olsen argued that the Saxony-Anhalt association of the AfD could add AI policy to its better-known tools to make life more difficult for migrants.
“There’s really not much they can do,” said Olsen, referring to the AfD’s limited ability to influence national immigration policy. “What they can do is try to make things as uncomfortable as possible for migrants in these states.”
Still, the overall impact of AI on labor, especially skilled labor, is largely unclear. Siddhi Pal, who researches AI policy at interface, a Berlin-based think tank specializing in tech policy, noted that AI’s effects have yet to be demonstrated in many occupations.
“I also think that AI is reaching the workforce in phases. We first saw software engineers, for example, being heavily impacted,” Pal said. “AI is not at a stage where we see it across the labor market everywhere in practice.”
But before even getting to executing an AI policy, the AFD may first need to sell its constituents on it: Some members of the party are completely unaware that their politicians are making the connection between AI and migration.
“I even messaged a few AFD members I know who are in different states, and they had no idea,” Reber said. “They were like, ‘What are you talking about? AI has nothing to do with migration.’”
