Since the release of ChatGPT in November 2022, artificial intelligence (AI) has captured the popular imagination. But while AI has the potential to dramatically increase the productivity of businesses and transform many aspects of our daily lives, it also brings with it considerable risks.
As generative AI tools proliferate, the biases they sometimes reflect may perpetuate stereotypes and stall progress towards greater equality. There is also the possibility that jobs may be lost to AI at a faster rate than new employment opportunities can be created. And while most people agree that unbridled AI deployment could lead to significant unintended societal harms, there is currently little agreement on how to regulate it.
In the absence of effective regulation, EOS has been engaging on the business and wider societal impacts of AI since 2017. In 2022, we consolidated our approach to engagement on this topic under the wider sub-theme of digital rights, which we define as human rights specific to digital products and services.
Our Digital Rights Principles set out our core expectations of companies on AI. These explain that companies should ensure robust governance and policies for AI. Companies should also take action to eliminate unintended racial, gender, and other biases in algorithms.
Given the rapid pace of new developments in AI, we have continued to review and evaluate our engagement approach. We recognise that AI advances human development, but there is also the potential for misuse. Consequently, we will continue to engage on AI as a human rights issue while closely exploring the overlay with two other themes: human capital management, and wider societal impacts.
Read the full article in our Q3 2023 Public Engagement Report.
A brave new world?
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