AI and Human Rights Law

Abstract

The human rights impacts of artificial intelligence (AI) are complex. The full range of civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights protected by international and Canadian human rights law are affected by current uses of this family of technologies. Such impacts vary considerably based on how AI is implemented in particular cases. Correspondingly, some rights holders may experience positive impacts on their enjoyment of certain rights, even as others suffer negative impacts. What can be said across most AI implementations, however, is that they touch upon the right to privacy as guaranteed by international and Canadian law. Furthermore, there are well-documented concerns about how machine learning technologies can perpetuate patterns of bias that are encoded into the data that is used to “train” such systems. This chapter surveys the human rights impacts of AI with a focus on the rights to equality and non-discrimination. It also suggests how the law can evolve to ensure that AI promotes positive human rights outcomes.

Keywords: AI; human rights; Canada