"Safeguarding human rights in the era of artificial intelligence", 3 July 2018

The way I see it, AI [...] touches on many aspects of my mandate, as its use can negatively affect a wide range of our human rights...

The tension between advantages of AI technology and risks for our human rights becomes most evident in the field of privacy...

[A] study by the EU Fundamental Rights Agency also highlighted how AI can amplify discrimination... 

Another right at stake is freedom of expression. A recent Council of Europe publication on Algorithms and Human Rights noted for instance that Facebook and YouTube have adopted a filtering mechanism to detect violent extremist content. However, [...] lack of transparency around the content moderation raises concerns because it may be used to restrict legitimate free speech... 

States should also make sure that the private sector, which bears the responsibility for AI design, programing and implementation, upholds human rights... 

It is encouraging to see that the private sector is ready to cooperate with the Council of Europe on these issues. As Commissioner for Human Rights, I intend to focus on AI during my mandate... [also refers to Google]