Artificial Intelligence (AI) has revolutionized our world in many ways, transforming the way we work, communicate, and live. Moreover, responsible AI development could potentially help promote human rights globally by increasing access to critical services, reducing discrimination, and enhancing efficiency. However, there are also real concerns regarding AI and human rights violations. As AI becomes more sophisticated, it poses new challenges to human rights from worker displacement to severe privacy breaches.
The positive impact AI could have on human rights
The potential for AI to positively impact human rights is not something to be taken lightly. Here are a few examples of how AI can help champion human rights globally:
Increase access to critical services
Access to healthcare and education is a fundamental human right. However, in many parts of the world, these services remain inadequate due to a lack of resources, qualified medical professionals, or infrastructure. AI can help bridge this gap by offering increased access to critical services that can be delivered remotely. For example, telemedicine tools driven by AI can provide clinical diagnoses to patients in remote locations, where medical services are scarce.
Reducing discrimination
One of the most significant challenges of promoting human rights globally is fighting discrimination. AI can help by providing tools that are unbiased, reducing the impact of discrimination in areas such as hiring, resource allocation, and even policing. For example, companies like Pymetrics use AI-powered predictive models to reduce recruitment biases by analyzing candidates’ traits and identifying those with the right qualities to fit into diverse work environments.
Enhancing efficiency
AI can help governments and institutions create more efficient systems. Automated systems can help public officials and policy-makers make decisions based on real-time data, reducing delays, and ensuring faster delivery of public services. For example, the city of Helsinki implemented an AI-driven system that predicts when specific city infrastructure assets (such as pedestrian crossings or lighting) will need maintenance, saving time and resources.
The potential risks of AI on human rights
While there’s no doubt that AI has the potential to positively impact human rights, there are also real concerns about the risks it poses. Here are a few potential risks of AI on human rights, existing today:
Worker displacement
AI is still in the process of development and testing, but it is already clear that automation will lead to job displacement. This automation trend could lead to the dislocation of millions of workers globally, often leaving them with the need to retrain and transition into different jobs. As a result, AI could potentially violate the human rights of workers who are suddenly left jobless or struggling to find viable employment options, affecting their wellbeing and livelihoods.
Privacy issues
AI technology, like facial recognition and identify verification systems, can potentially infringe on the right to privacy. Automated surveillance technologies also put people’s rights to privacy at risk by recording, monitoring, and analyzing their every move. These technologies can unwittingly turn people into subjects of surveillance without their knowledge or consent, which could infringe on their rights to privacy in the workplace.
Discrimination and bias
AI algorithms can be biased, reflecting societal prejudices and perpetuating them in decision-making. For example, AI recruitment tools can use historical data from candidates who were a good fit for a particular company and replicate that trend, excluding candidates who belong to marginalized groups. This type of bias can lead to unlawful discrimination against some groups, especially if we do not actively work to make automated decision-making systems more diverse and inclusive.
Conclusion
AI has the potential to positively impact human rights by increasing access to critical services, reducing discrimination, and enhancing efficiency. However, the increasing use of AI also raises concerns regarding job displacement, privacy breaches, and discrimination. It’s essential to approach AI development with an open mind, keeping in mind the potential harms while working to leverage its positive impact on human rights. Collaboration between governments, tech companies, and civil society is critical in ensuring AI is developed with caution to limit the risks of human rights infringement. By promoting responsible AI development, we can harness the potential of this technology to improve the lives of people worldwide.