UN urges moratorium on use of AI that imperils human rights

By JAMEY KEATEN and MATT O’BRIEN
Associated Press

GENEVA (AP) — The U.N. human rights chief is calling for a moratorium on the use of artificial intelligence technology that poses a serious risk to human rights, including face-scanning systems that track people in public spaces. Michelle Bachelet also says countries should expressly ban AI applications that don’t comply with international human rights law. Applications that should be prohibited include government “social scoring” systems which judge people based on their behavior and certain AI-based tools that categorize people by ethnicity or gender. She said AI-based technologies can do good but can also “have negative, even catastrophic, effects” if not used judiciously.