IPU, Alm.del - 2024-25 - Bilag 7: 149th IPU Assembly

Dansk Interparlamentarisk Gruppes bestyrelse 2024-25
IPU Alm.del Bilag 7
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149th IPU Assembly

Geneva

13–17 October 2024

The impact of artificial intelligence on

democracy, human rights and the rule of law

Resolution adopted unanimously by the 149th IPU Assembly

(Geneva, 17 October 2024)

The 149th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,

Reaffirming

international law, in particular the Charter of the United Nations, and

recalling

the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,

Recognizing

that rapid advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) may provide significant

opportunities and challenges for humanity, with impacts, including on human rights, experienced

differently between nations,

Acknowledging

that greater knowledge and understanding of AI systems is a prerequisite for

informed debate and decision-making, including the following considerations:

ongoing initiatives that call for a balanced, inclusive and risk-based approach to the

governance of AI, as a means to achieve an open, sustainable, fair, free and secure

future for all,

the methods by which AI systems are trained and deployed, which have the potential to

entrench existing societal prejudices, discrimination, biases and inequalities,

both within developing countries as well as between developing and

more developed countries,

the ways in which AI can facilitate the spread of false or misleading information,

discrimination, and extremism leading to misinformation, disinformation, distrust and

online violence, as well as AI-facilitated gender-based violence against women,

including women serving in politics, all of which undermines the credibility of

democratic institutions and actors, posing significant challenges to public discourse and

societal trust,

Noting

that advances in AI have impacts on democracy, human rights and the rule of law,

including by facilitating the spread of misinformation and disinformation which can undermine democratic

institutions, incite extremism and violate personal rights to privacy and data ownership, all of which may

disproportionately affect children, women and girls, as well as disabled persons,

Aware

that, at the same time, AI technologies, if developed and harnessed in a responsible

manner and made available to all, can have a positive impact on democracy, including through

increasing the accountability and transparency of public institutions, and facilitating citizens’ engagement

in political processes,

Highlighting

the risk of AI widening economic inequalities on a global scale,

Acknowledging

that an inclusive, responsible, human-centric and evidence-based approach

to setting rules that mitigate risks pertaining to the creation, development, deployment and use of AI

technologies is required in order to ensure equitable policy outcomes for the entire world, including the

Global South and countries which may face unique challenges caused by disparities in keeping up with

the rapid pace of AI development and deployment,

#IPU149

IPU, Alm.del - 2024-25 - Bilag 7: 149th IPU Assembly - Outcome

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Stressing

that, in the absence of gender-balanced perspectives, data and

decision-making, AI technologies, in particular generative AI, can create, perpetuate and amplify

gender inequalities and gender-based discrimination and violence,

Noting

that AI-generated deepfake material can negatively impact all women, and that

for women in politics, these impacts often have the effect of silencing and excluding them from

public and political life,

Concerned

by the lack of comprehensive legislation, regulations and a globally agreed

upon framework for the responsible creation, deployment and use of AI technology, and by the

slow pace of the global community in developing these rules, and

underlining

the need for

transparency and respect for democratic values in AI development,

Acknowledging

the importance of regulating AI without constraining the emergence of

responsibly developed and managed innovations that positively benefit humanity,

Alarmed

that big technology companies have lobbied extensively to influence and set

rules that may primarily benefit them, and to assert their control over training data sets and thus the

technological development of AI for the foreseeable future to the detriment of the global community

and the preservation of individual rights, including through the manipulation of personal data,

unethical business marketing, non-socially responsible behaviour and algorithmic biases that

reinforce existing inequalities and discrimination,

Noting

that countries may already have existing legislation and regulations that could

be adapted to meet emerging challenges and opportunities relating to AI, and that the principle of

national sovereignty should be recognized in any initiative to regulate AI,

Noting also

numerous international and regional initiatives to develop ethical

standards and governance frameworks for AI, and that any such initiatives should employ a multi-

stakeholder approach that guarantees a broad consensus across the global community,

Applauding

the welcome efforts of key international organizations to assist

parliamentarians and other actors in developing regulatory frameworks and policies,

Calls for

increased international multi-stakeholder cooperation, collaboration, and

exchange of information and experiences to ensure a united worldwide effort

to maximize the benefits of AI, while mitigating risks to humanity, including

through initiatives designed to reduce disparities in technological development

between nations;

Calls for

urgent measures to bridge the divides among and within countries in terms of

digital infrastructure, connectivity and skills, including by removing digital gender

barriers and scaling up international digital cooperation, as a precondition for equitable

and inclusive access to AI benefits for all;

Insists

on the inclusion of perspectives from, and the equal participation of, all

countries of the world in debates on AI standards, frameworks and other governance

mechanisms, while emphasizing the need for the active presence of the Global South;

Calls upon

parliaments to effectively and transparently adopt or maintain strong legal

frameworks and policies for the responsible creation, deployment and use of AI

technology, and to contribute to efforts to establish global standards and frameworks;

Recommends

that these legal frameworks set out requirements for transparency and

information in the implementation of AI systems, affirm the accountability of the public

and private entities who use them, and provide recourse for victims whose rights are

violated by AI technology;

IPU, Alm.del - 2024-25 - Bilag 7: 149th IPU Assembly - Outcome

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Invites

parliaments, in cooperation with civil society groups, academia and research

groups, to give priority to reviewing existing legislation and regulations to ensure that

advances in AI technology do not result in loopholes in existing protections for

democracy, human rights, the rule of law and State sovereignty;

Urges

parliaments to prioritize the prevention and elimination of, and response to, all

forms of gender-based violence and discrimination generated or facilitated by AI,

including better content moderation, accessible and effective reporting mechanisms

and the establishment of procedures to remove illegal content;

Calls on

parliaments, with a view to enhancing gender mainstreaming in the

development of AI, to promote legislation and policies aimed at enabling and

increasing girls’ and women’s access to education, careers and leadership in science,

technology, engineering and mathematics;

Invites

parliaments to ensure that advances in AI do not result in the perpetuation of

discrimination stemming from biases present in training data and algorithms;

Urges

legislative action to prevent the creation and distribution of deepfake intimate

images, recognizing that most of such content is pornographic in nature and

disproportionally targets women and girls, as well to as to prevent the distribution of

other AI-generated content that propagates hate speech or incites violence, including

gender-based violence;

Calls for

the development, deployment and accessibility of new and existing tools to

help people verify the provenance and authenticity of AI-generated images and

content, to protect data privacy, and to prevent the misuse of personal information

and data;

Calls upon

parliaments to promote AI systems that advance, protect and preserve

linguistic and cultural diversity, taking into account multilingualism in their training data

and throughout the life cycle of the AI system;

Urges

parliaments to place a high priority on debates related to AI and to ensure their

policy responses evolve in line with advances in AI technology, so as to ensure these

responses are conducive to the well-being of humanity and the principles of

sustainable development;

Calls on

parliaments to strengthen their capacity to proactively address rapid

technological developments, particularly in the AI field, including through: training

programmes for members of parliament and staff; the establishment of specialized

bodies; innovative formats for policy dialogues with the technical and academic

communities, the private sector and all other stakeholders; and platforms for

enhanced inter-parliamentary cooperation and sharing knowledge, good practices and

solutions related to AI;

Calls for

the development of effective strategies to address the impact of AI on the

labour market, including education, training and measures to mitigate the effects of

automation on specific job sectors and to provide support to affected individuals;

Urges

parliaments to cooperate with their governments in raising the awareness of

citizens on the impact of AI on democracy, human rights and the rule of law;

Calls for

increased and ongoing education and capacity-building on the uses and risks

of AI, including for parliamentarians, to keep pace with quickly evolving technological

developments;

Calls upon

parliaments to accelerate efforts to tackle information privacy violations

caused by the use of unacceptable AI practices, such as AI-enabled surveillance and

biometric categorization technology in unwarranted political surveillance and personal

data collection, which threatens citizens’ fundamental rights and individual freedoms,

thereby weakening democracy and the rule of law;

10.

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19.

Urges

parliaments and the Inter-Parliamentary Union to advocate against international

decoupling of data sets and AI models in order to prevent censorship and the walling

in of individual systems, and to make AI as inclusive, culturally open and nuanced

as possible;

Notes

the need for independent research on AI, guided by high ethical standards;

Calls for

the promotion of sustainable research and development in the field of AI,

encompassing innovations designed to address global challenges related to human

rights, particularly in the areas of epidemic prevention, public health enhancement,

educational development and climate change mitigation;

Urges

the enhancement of transparency and accountability in the deployment of AI by

establishing standards that require companies to disclose their data usage and

decision-making processes involved in AI applications;

Calls for

the development of specific cybersecurity standards for AI to safeguard

systems against cyberattacks and bolster the security of personal and sensitive data;

Invites

the Inter-Parliamentary Union, given the crucial role of parliaments in achieving

internationally agreed AI commitments, to explore modalities of providing a

parliamentary input to AI-related processes at multilateral organizations;

Urges

parliaments and the Inter-Parliamentary Union to continue to focus attention on

the responsible development, deployment and use of AI, including through

capacity-building initiatives and establishing linkages with relevant global initiatives, as

a critical goal of their work.

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