Human vs. Machine: A Framework of Responsibilities and Duties of Transnational Corporations for Respecting Human Rights in the Use of Artificial Intelligence

Abstract

The use of artificial intelligence is spreading rapidly through all types of industries, and with this expansion come various implications for international human rights standards. This article analyzes the current responsibilities, if any, of transnational corporations deploying artificial intelligence through products and services to avoid human rights violations, and then proposes a framework for what their responsibilities should be. First, this article will explore the current uses of artificial intelligence in a global business setting and enumerate the human rights standards that could potentially be violated by such practices. Then, this article will argue for several international mechanisms to be used to hold transnational corporations responsible and accountable for harmful use of artificial intelligence. Specifically, World Bank policies can be adopted that limit loans for development projects that will use products that could negatively impact human rights through their application of artificial intelligence. Further, the article proposes expanding the use of the Global Magnitsky Act’s permission to impose asset freezes and travel bans on transnational corporations that cause or further abuses of human rights through artificial intelligence, which can serve as both a deterrent and a tool for accountability. The role of a new international treaty to regulate the corporate use of artificial intelligence is also discussed, along with current attempts at drafting one. Another tool for resolving artificial intelligence-aided human rights violations is the use of voluntary, private, international arbitration that would settle cases outside of international judicial settings and could serve as a mechanism that transnational corporations may be willing to comply with. Finally, this article explores and then rejects the idea of holding the actual technology accountable (“robot ethics”).