United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet listens during at a panel discussion on the Covid-19 pandemic in Geneva on September 17, 2020. (Photo: Jean Marc Ferre/UN Geneva/Flickr/cc)
UN Human Rights Chief Calls for Global Halt to Sales of Dangerous AI Technologies
"The power of AI to serve people is undeniable, but so is AI's ability to feed human rights violations at an enormous scale with virtually no visibility."
Noting the ubiquity of artificial intelligence in modern life, the United Nations' top human rights official on Wednesday called for a moratorium on the sale and use of AI systems that imperil human rights until sufficient safeguards against potential abuse are implemented.
"Action is needed now to put human rights guardrails on the use of AI, for the good of all of us."
--Michelle Bachelet, OHCHR
"Artificial intelligence can be a force for good, helping societies overcome some of the great challenges of our times," U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said. "But AI technologies can have negative, even catastrophic, effects if they are used without sufficient regard to how they affect people's human rights."
The former socialist president of Chile added that AI "now reaches into almost every corner of our physical and mental lives and even emotional states. AI systems are used to determine who gets public services, decide who has a chance to be recruited for a job, and of course they affect what information people see and can share online."
Bachelet's remarks came at a Council of Europe hearing on the Pegasus scandal--in which the Israeli firm NSO Group's spyware was used to target activists, journalists, and politicians worldwide, sparking calls for a global moratorium on the sale and transfer of surveillance technology.
Her comments also came as the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) published a report analyzing AI's impacts on privacy and other rights.
According to OHCHR:
The report looks at how states and businesses alike have often rushed to incorporate AI applications, failing to carry out due diligence. There have already been numerous cases of people being treated unjustly because of AI, such as being denied social security benefits because of faulty AI tools or arrested because of flawed facial recognition. The report details how AI systems rely on large data sets, with information about individuals collected, shared, merged, and analyzed in multiple and often opaque ways. The data used to inform and guide AI systems can be faulty, discriminatory, out-of-date, or irrelevant. Long-term storage of data also poses particular risks, as data could in the future be exploited in as yet unknown ways.
"The complexity of the data environment, algorithms, and models underlying the development and operation of AI systems, as well as intentional secrecy of government and private actors, are factors undermining meaningful ways for the public to understand the effects of AI systems on human rights and society," the report states.
Evan Greer, director of the digital rights group Fight for the Future, said that the new report "echoes the growing consensus among technology and human rights experts around the world" that "artificial intelligence-powered surveillance systems like facial recognition pose an existential threat to the future human liberty."
"Like nuclear or biological weapons, technology like this has such an enormous potential for harm that it cannot be effectively regulated, it must be banned," she continued. "Facial recognition and other discriminatory uses of artificial intelligence can do immense harm whether they're deployed by governments or private entities like corporations."
"We agree with the U.N. report's conclusion," added Greer. "There should be an immediate, worldwide moratorium on the sale of facial recognition surveillance technology and other harmful AI systems."
"Given the rapid and continuous growth of AI, filling the immense accountability gap in how data is collected, stored, shared, and used is one of the most urgent human rights questions we face," Bachelet asserted Wednesday. "We cannot afford to continue playing catch-up regarding AI--allowing its use with limited or no boundaries or oversight, and dealing with the almost inevitable human rights consequences after the fact."
"The power of AI to serve people is undeniable, but so is AI's ability to feed human rights violations at an enormous scale with virtually no visibility," she added. "Action is needed now to put human rights guardrails on the use of AI, for the good of all of us."
Urgent. It's never been this bad.
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission from the outset was simple. To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It’s never been this bad out there. And it’s never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed and doing some of its best and most important work, the threats we face are intensifying. Right now, with just two days to go in our Spring Campaign, we're falling short of our make-or-break goal. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Can you make a gift right now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? There is no backup plan or rainy day fund. There is only you. —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Noting the ubiquity of artificial intelligence in modern life, the United Nations' top human rights official on Wednesday called for a moratorium on the sale and use of AI systems that imperil human rights until sufficient safeguards against potential abuse are implemented.
"Action is needed now to put human rights guardrails on the use of AI, for the good of all of us."
--Michelle Bachelet, OHCHR
"Artificial intelligence can be a force for good, helping societies overcome some of the great challenges of our times," U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said. "But AI technologies can have negative, even catastrophic, effects if they are used without sufficient regard to how they affect people's human rights."
The former socialist president of Chile added that AI "now reaches into almost every corner of our physical and mental lives and even emotional states. AI systems are used to determine who gets public services, decide who has a chance to be recruited for a job, and of course they affect what information people see and can share online."
Bachelet's remarks came at a Council of Europe hearing on the Pegasus scandal--in which the Israeli firm NSO Group's spyware was used to target activists, journalists, and politicians worldwide, sparking calls for a global moratorium on the sale and transfer of surveillance technology.
Her comments also came as the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) published a report analyzing AI's impacts on privacy and other rights.
According to OHCHR:
The report looks at how states and businesses alike have often rushed to incorporate AI applications, failing to carry out due diligence. There have already been numerous cases of people being treated unjustly because of AI, such as being denied social security benefits because of faulty AI tools or arrested because of flawed facial recognition. The report details how AI systems rely on large data sets, with information about individuals collected, shared, merged, and analyzed in multiple and often opaque ways. The data used to inform and guide AI systems can be faulty, discriminatory, out-of-date, or irrelevant. Long-term storage of data also poses particular risks, as data could in the future be exploited in as yet unknown ways.
"The complexity of the data environment, algorithms, and models underlying the development and operation of AI systems, as well as intentional secrecy of government and private actors, are factors undermining meaningful ways for the public to understand the effects of AI systems on human rights and society," the report states.
Evan Greer, director of the digital rights group Fight for the Future, said that the new report "echoes the growing consensus among technology and human rights experts around the world" that "artificial intelligence-powered surveillance systems like facial recognition pose an existential threat to the future human liberty."
"Like nuclear or biological weapons, technology like this has such an enormous potential for harm that it cannot be effectively regulated, it must be banned," she continued. "Facial recognition and other discriminatory uses of artificial intelligence can do immense harm whether they're deployed by governments or private entities like corporations."
"We agree with the U.N. report's conclusion," added Greer. "There should be an immediate, worldwide moratorium on the sale of facial recognition surveillance technology and other harmful AI systems."
"Given the rapid and continuous growth of AI, filling the immense accountability gap in how data is collected, stored, shared, and used is one of the most urgent human rights questions we face," Bachelet asserted Wednesday. "We cannot afford to continue playing catch-up regarding AI--allowing its use with limited or no boundaries or oversight, and dealing with the almost inevitable human rights consequences after the fact."
"The power of AI to serve people is undeniable, but so is AI's ability to feed human rights violations at an enormous scale with virtually no visibility," she added. "Action is needed now to put human rights guardrails on the use of AI, for the good of all of us."
Noting the ubiquity of artificial intelligence in modern life, the United Nations' top human rights official on Wednesday called for a moratorium on the sale and use of AI systems that imperil human rights until sufficient safeguards against potential abuse are implemented.
"Action is needed now to put human rights guardrails on the use of AI, for the good of all of us."
--Michelle Bachelet, OHCHR
"Artificial intelligence can be a force for good, helping societies overcome some of the great challenges of our times," U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said. "But AI technologies can have negative, even catastrophic, effects if they are used without sufficient regard to how they affect people's human rights."
The former socialist president of Chile added that AI "now reaches into almost every corner of our physical and mental lives and even emotional states. AI systems are used to determine who gets public services, decide who has a chance to be recruited for a job, and of course they affect what information people see and can share online."
Bachelet's remarks came at a Council of Europe hearing on the Pegasus scandal--in which the Israeli firm NSO Group's spyware was used to target activists, journalists, and politicians worldwide, sparking calls for a global moratorium on the sale and transfer of surveillance technology.
Her comments also came as the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) published a report analyzing AI's impacts on privacy and other rights.
According to OHCHR:
The report looks at how states and businesses alike have often rushed to incorporate AI applications, failing to carry out due diligence. There have already been numerous cases of people being treated unjustly because of AI, such as being denied social security benefits because of faulty AI tools or arrested because of flawed facial recognition. The report details how AI systems rely on large data sets, with information about individuals collected, shared, merged, and analyzed in multiple and often opaque ways. The data used to inform and guide AI systems can be faulty, discriminatory, out-of-date, or irrelevant. Long-term storage of data also poses particular risks, as data could in the future be exploited in as yet unknown ways.
"The complexity of the data environment, algorithms, and models underlying the development and operation of AI systems, as well as intentional secrecy of government and private actors, are factors undermining meaningful ways for the public to understand the effects of AI systems on human rights and society," the report states.
Evan Greer, director of the digital rights group Fight for the Future, said that the new report "echoes the growing consensus among technology and human rights experts around the world" that "artificial intelligence-powered surveillance systems like facial recognition pose an existential threat to the future human liberty."
"Like nuclear or biological weapons, technology like this has such an enormous potential for harm that it cannot be effectively regulated, it must be banned," she continued. "Facial recognition and other discriminatory uses of artificial intelligence can do immense harm whether they're deployed by governments or private entities like corporations."
"We agree with the U.N. report's conclusion," added Greer. "There should be an immediate, worldwide moratorium on the sale of facial recognition surveillance technology and other harmful AI systems."
"Given the rapid and continuous growth of AI, filling the immense accountability gap in how data is collected, stored, shared, and used is one of the most urgent human rights questions we face," Bachelet asserted Wednesday. "We cannot afford to continue playing catch-up regarding AI--allowing its use with limited or no boundaries or oversight, and dealing with the almost inevitable human rights consequences after the fact."
"The power of AI to serve people is undeniable, but so is AI's ability to feed human rights violations at an enormous scale with virtually no visibility," she added. "Action is needed now to put human rights guardrails on the use of AI, for the good of all of us."