UN rights chief calls for ban or moratorium on certain AI systems

Artificial intelligence systems that threaten human rights should be banned or temporarily restricted, according to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet.

Technologies like facial recognition are increasingly used to identify people in real time and from a distance.

We call for a moratorium on their use in public spaces, at least until robust international #HumanRights safeguards are in place.

Learn more: https://t.co/VmmR75slYd pic.twitter.com/mslH79ccFK

— UN Human Rights (@UNHumanRights) September 15, 2021

She said the moratorium is necessary at least until governments can guarantee compliance with human rights standards.

«Artificial intelligence can be a force for good, helping society address some of the serious problems of our time. But technologies can have negative, even catastrophic consequences if they are used without regard to their impact on human rights», — she said.

The UN Human Rights Council published a report, in which the authors analysed the human rights risks associated with a range of AI-based technologies, including profiling, automated decision-making, and machine learning.

The document also notes that AI data sets may contain racial and ethnic biases. This would merely entrench or amplify discrimination, the organisation said.

However, the commissioner did not call for a total ban on facial recognition technology. She proposed introducing a moratorium on remote, real-time biometric identification until rights protections are agreed.

In August it was reported that ten of the twenty-three U.S. federal agencies planned to expand the use of facial recognition technologies by 2023.

In July, Russian rights advocates called for regulating biometric identification systems.

In June, European regulators proposed banning the use of artificial intelligence in facial recognition, gait recognition, fingerprints, and for processing other biometric data in the EU.

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