"What "datafication" means for the right to development," 27 September 2018

Breakthroughs in technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, the Internet of Things, block chain, and other developments are being heralded as possible solutions for a diverse range of problems. Yet technology-based decision-making also raises important questions on how the right to development will be realized... [G]lobal policy discourses and frameworks around data have skewed the digital innovation tide in favor of developed countries... [T]he global “platformization” of content... shows us that guarantees of people’s access to culture of their selection may now become beholden to digital intermediaries. 

... Despite these threats to the economic, social and cultural rights of citizens, the scenario is not one of complete gloom. Some “AI for good” initiatives are seeking social justice solutions rather than creating techno-fixes for the world’s problems... [G]lobal democracy in the 21st century hinges on the taming of runaway machine intelligence through a binding global code of ethics that can reject the use of AI for purposes that contravene international law and human rights obligations... States have a more proactive role to play in developing frameworks around data governance. [refers to Netflix, Uber & Walmart]