The European Union's plan to regulate artificial intelligence (AI) overlooks people's rights to social security and an adequate standard of living, a prominent human rights watchdog said on Wednesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th November, 2021) The European Union's plan to regulate artificial intelligence (AI) overlooks people's rights to social security and an adequate standard of living, a prominent human rights watchdog said on Wednesday.
On April 21, the European Commission proposed a set of rules and regulations on AI systems, which go as far as banning those posing a threat to the safety and well-being of EU citizens. At the end of September, a joint statement by the European Union and the United States noted that while they recognize AI's positive potential, they also realize that the technology could pose a threat to fundamental rights and freedoms. As such, they affirmed their intention to develop and implement AI in a way that aligns with human rights and shared democratic values.
"The proposed Artificial Intelligence Act comes amid growing concern, in Europe and beyond, about how AI and other forms of algorithmic decision-making are increasingly woven into the social safety net, affecting social and economic rights ... While the EU regulation broadly acknowledges these risks, it does not meaningfully protect people's rights to social security and an adequate standard of living," Human Rights Watch said in a report.
The study used a number of case studies from Ireland, France, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, and the United Kingdom. It concluded that the EU's plan to create algorithms that will focus on social security support and prevent benefits fraud can discriminate against people who may require support in the social security sector, compromise their privacy and make it even harder for them to qualify for government assistance.
"The EU's proposal does not do enough to protect people from algorithms that unfairly strip them of the benefits they need to support themselves or find a job ... The proposal also fails to put an end to abusive surveillance and profiling of people living in poverty," the watchdog's senior researcher on artificial intelligence and human rights, Amos Toh, noted in a press statement.
The NGO furthermore noted that in many countries AI technologies rationalized policies that reduced government spending to the welfare budget.
"The automation of social security services should improve people's lives, not cost them the support they need to pay rent, buy food, and make a living ... The EU should amend the regulation to ensure that it lives up to its obligations to protect economic and social rights," Toh added.
The watchdog is asking the European Parliament to amend the regulation to ban social scoring that interferes with human rights.
