A call to proactivity for AI for the benefit of rights

He The European Council urged its members to be “proactive” in their use Artificial Intelligence (AI) with the aim of promoting the protection of citizens’ human rights, instead of leaving that task to private companies.

This is one of the main conclusions of the report published today by an intergovernmental body based in Strasbourg “Artificial intelligence and human rights”, text that expands the recommendations already given in 2019.

“Since most artificial intelligence has been developed by the private sector, public authorities have essentially taken a more reactive than proactive stance,” said the report, led by the human rights commissioner in Council of Europe, Dunja Mijatović.

For Mijatović, “member states are losing the opportunity that AI provides to implement and strengthen the protection of human rights and fundamental principles of democracy and the rule of law.”

He The European Councilfounded in 1949, it consists of 46 European countries, including Spain, with the aim of promoting and protecting human rights, democracy and the rule of law.

The document also accuses its members, which include several non-EU states, of having an “overly sectoral approach”, for example, focusing exclusively on the right to privacy, ignoring that protection applies “to all relevant areas that use AI”.

“Legal frameworks, when they exist, have not been implemented quickly and efficiently – the study complains – because the fact of dependence on the infrastructures of large (internet) platforms can make implementation difficult and keep supervision fragmented”.

“Artificial intelligence and human rights” It also points to “insufficient transparency and information sharing” in Europe about the development of artificial intelligence.

He also regrets that intellectual property laws are an “obstacle” that hinders oversight and limits the work of the judicial sector and human rights organizations.