Human rights in the age of

HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE AGE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
of the quality of the study, the model was able to identify the sexuality of 81% of men and 74% of women 
with accuracy. Governments could use systems like this to target and discriminate against LGBTQ people 
in places where homosexuality and gender nonconformity is either illegal or social unacceptable. The 
questionable science behind the study of faces, or the high error rates for this kind of system, may not 
matter to those wielding the technology. 
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Rights to political participation and self determination
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“Every citizen shall have the right and the opportunity [...] to take part in the conduct of public affairs, directly or 
through freely chosen representatives; to vote and to be elected at genuine periodic elections which shall be by 
universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret ballot, guaranteeing the free expression of the will of the 
electors; to have access, on general terms of equality, to public service in his country.” - Article 25 of the ICCPR
The role of AI in creating and spreading disinformation challenges the notion of fair elections and creates 
a threat to the right to political participation and self determination. The 2016 U.S. presidential election 
showed how a foreign power can leverage bots and social media algorithms to increase the reach of false 
information and potentially influence voters. Although platforms are working to prevent this type of activity, 
a future of AI-powered chatbots and deep fakes will likely make such content more convincing to voters 
and harder for companies to detect. This may chill political participation, particularly if voters lose trust in 
the legitimacy of elections. 
Looking forward: AI-powered surveillance could be used to restrict and inhibit political participation, 
including by identifying and discouraging certain groups of people from voting. Use of facial recognition 
in polling places or voting booths could compromise the secrecy of the ballot. Governments wishing to 
discourage voters from casting ballots for the opposition need not even directly surveil the act of voting; 
the mere signification of surveillance could be sufficient to convince voters that their ballots are not 
secret, and could influence their voting decisions accordingly.