AI is redefining what it means to be human. As existing international norms designed to allow every human being a life of liberty and dignity, human rights ought to be the foundation for AI governance.
Human rights are central to what it means to be human. They were drafted and agreed internationally, with worldwide popular support, to define freedoms and entitlements that would allow every human being to live a life of liberty and dignity. Those fundamental human rights have been interpreted and developed over decades to delineate the parameters of fairness, equality and liberty for every individual.
Now, artificial intelligence (AI) is redefining what it means to be human. Its systems and processes have the potential to alter the human experience fundamentally. AI will affect not only public policy areas such as road safety and healthcare, but also human autonomy, relationships and dignity. It will affect lifestyles and professions, as well as the future course of human development and the nature and scale of conflicts. It will change the relationships between communities and those between the individual, the state and corporations.
AI offers tremendous benefits for all societies but also presents risks. These risks potentially include further division between the privileged and the unprivileged; the erosion of individual freedoms through ubiquitous surveillance; and the replacement of independent thought and judgement with automated control.
This paper aims to explain why human rights ought to be the foundation for AI governance, to explore the reasons why they are not – except in the EU and some international organizations – and to demonstrate how human rights can be embedded from the beginning in future AI governance initiatives.
While AI is being implemented rapidly around the world, most governance initiatives to date have emerged from developed states. This paper therefore focuses on practice and process primarily in the EU, the UK and the US. However, the paper also acknowledges the significance of AI initiatives elsewhere in the world – China in particular is a leading developer and exporter of AI technology.
The following chapter explains AI and the risks and benefits it presents for human rights. Chapter 3 aims to dispel myths and fears about human rights, before discussing why human rights should provide the baseline for AI governance. Chapters 4, 5 and 6 outline the principal import of human rights for AI governance principles, processes and remedies respectively. Finally, Chapter 7 offers recommendations on actions that governments, organizations, companies and individuals can take to ensure that human rights are embedded in AI governance in future.
