Human Rights Group And AI Experts Form Coalition Against Discriminatory AI

One would think that machines would be impartial since they have no emotions, but tools are only ever as good as their creators. This goes for artificial intelligence in particular, with algorithms being prone to discriminatory behavior depending on what kind of data it is fed. This is something that human rights groups and AI experts have an issue with, and they just banded together to fight against it.

The new initiative is called The Toronto Declaration, which was signed during the RightsCon Toronto symposium held in Toronto, Canada. Among the signatories include groups like Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, The Wikimedia Foundation, and Access Now. All of them are basically asking the government for one thing: To stop using discriminatory AI.

“We wish to complement this work by reaffirming the role of human rights law and standards in protecting individuals and groups from discrimination and non-equality in any context. The human rights law and standards outlined in this Declaration provide a solid grounding for the developing ethical frameworks for machine learning,” the declaration reads.

The issues that really have these groups riled up include machine behavior and results that can be considered either racist, bigoted, or discriminatory in any way. As Futurism notes, machines can be prone to biases depending on who made them and how they were programmed. AIs themselves don’t really have any particular prejudices. It is the creator’s job to make sure that they are fair.

Issues arising from complaints of discrimination that can be tied to the use of AI has been coming up lately, and calls for ending them are growing louder. Instead of simply trying to bring the whole system down, however, what the declaration does is offer actual solutions to the problems. One of them is to provide those who were discriminated against with the means of fighting back and seeking reparations.