[Workshop] Artificial Intelligence: the new frontier of business and human rights

The Business and Human Rights Working Group of the Netherlands Network for Human Rights Research and the Asser Institute will host a workshop on the theme of ‘Artificial Intelligence: The New Frontier of Business and Human Rights' from 7-8 September 2021.

To register, please send an email to c.l.lane@rug.nl.

Background
The growing presence of AI-guided behaviour raises fundamental ethical and legal questions with regard to its effects on those who are subjected to it. These questions are increasingly expressed in human rights terms, with growing acceptance of using human rights law frameworks to tackle the negative effects of AI.

This event goes one step further by focusing on the human rights responsibility of private corporations that produce, sell and use AI technologies, as well as the responsibility of States in regulating private actors in order to safeguard human rights. Currently, AI businesses are keen to adopt codes of ethics and self-regulatory tools to show their willingness to act ethically. Yet, one may wonder whether these are effective in holding the companies accountable for the negative effects of their AI technologies. It is, therefore, essential that the human rights responsibility of businesses engaging in the production of AI is investigated sooner rather than later.

Programme
Over two days, this workshop will feature international scholars from a range of research fields, with expert discussants providing commentary on each presentation. The keynote speaker is Prof. Lorna McGregor (Professor of International Human Rights Law, Essex Law School; PI and Director of the Human Rights, Big Data and Technology Project) and will include panels on:

• Human Rights as a framework for regulating AI
• Human Rights and AI governance regimes: standard-setting for and by private businesses
• Articulating corporate responsibility: applying the UNGPs in the context of AI
• Critical approaches to risk management and human rights safeguards in AI
• Corporate respect for human rights in practice: challenges and solutions
• AI for good: mitigating potential harms and the use of AI in human rights due diligence

Read the full programme