This session will bring ethical and human rights' perspectives of AI as a technology that holds many promises and raises many concerns. Like any other technology, it all depends on how we use it. AI can contribute to addressing some of the world's most pressing problems, but it can also lead to more inequality. AI can make people's lives easier, but it can also generate discrimination and bias. So how do we develop and use AI in a human-centric and trustworthy manner? How to make sure that the data used by AI is reliable, accurate, and complete enough as not to generate discrimination? How to avoid privacy and data protection breaches in accessing and processing the large amounts of data that are at the core of AI? And how do we make sure that there is transparency and accountability in how algorithms function and AI is used?
At IGF 2018, we started a discussion on the role of ethical frameworks and human rights legal instruments in addressing these issues. One conclusion was that ethics differ across cultures and geographies, and, as such, we might be more efficient and effective in building trustworthy AI if we focus on applying existing human rights principles. Meanwhile, several new ethical frameworks have been developed by different entities (OECD, ITU, EU Commission, IEEE), and renewed calls have been made to ensure that human rights are always preserved in AI contexts, including in design, use and deployment. So where are we now, and what next? We have multiple human rights and ethical frameworks, but is this enough? How to apply them consistently in governing data, developing algorithms and actually using AI systems? Who bares this responsibility? And are there (or should there be) mechanisms for enforcement and monitoring in place?
More specifically, the session will address three policy questions:
a) What is, in fact, a trustworthy and responsible AI, especially with regard to data governance?
b) What is the role of human rights legal instruments and ethical frameworks in ensuring trustworthy and responsible data governance and AI? Are there any lessons learnt from existing frameworks?
c) How to cross the bridge between defining human rights and ethical frameworks and implementing them in AI systems and SDGs? What is the role of different stakeholders and how can they work together to achieve the best results?
