Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming our world, offering incredible potential for progress in fields like healthcare and education. However, this powerful technology also raises questions about its impact on human rights.
AI encompasses various automatic functionalities, such as language processing, image recognition, decision-making, and problem-solving. These systems use big data sets to recognise certain patterns in them to be able to take new actions or generate new content.
example Some AI systems can learn to mimic the style of a writer or a painter by analysing all of the creative work of a certain author and then producing similar content.
example AI systems can be used by researchers to compare data sets or publications to quickly find differences between them.
While a lot of AI tools are relatively harmless, some pose risks that need to be addressed. The EU was the first to adopt the AI Act – a regulation that establishes rules for AI. The Council of Europe also adopted the Framework Convention with the aim of ensuring that activities within the lifecycle of AI systems are fully consistent with human rights, democracy and the rule of law, while being conducive to technological progress and innovation.
example It is often hard to know how AI tools function on the inside. If they are used to hire employees, the candidates may be treated unfairly due to a bias which the AI tool has.
AI & Human rights
AI systems trained on biased data can perpetuate and amplify existing societal inequalities. This can lead to discrimination in various spheres, including employment, loan applications, and criminal justice.
Many AI systems rely on the collection and processing of vast amounts of data. This raises concerns about possible privacy violations, particularly when sensitive information is involved.
About this section
This section explains risk levels related to AI, the transparency problem of AI systems and provides information on how to complain.