Human rights in the age of

3. DATA MINING: 
The process of discovering patterns and extracting information from large datasets. In the 
era of big data, data mining is often facilitated by machine learning. 
4. MACHINE LEARNING (ML):
Machine learning is a sub-field of AI. Harry Surden defines machine learning 
as “computer algorithms that have the ability to “learn” or improve in performance over time on some task.”
8
Essentially, it is a machine that learns from data over time. This learning is through “a statistical process that starts 
with a body of data and tries to derive a rule or procedure that explains the data or can predict future data.”
9
The resulting output is called a model. This is different from the traditional approach to artificial intelligence, 
which involved a programmer trying to translate the way humans make decisions into software code. The vast 
majority of artificial intelligence in the world today is powered by machine learning. Currently, many ML 
systems are far more accurate than humans at a variety of tasks, from driving to diagnosing certain diseases.
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3 “Report of COMEST on Robotics Ethics; 2017,” n.d., 17.
4 McCarthy, John. 2018. “ What Is AI? / Basic Questions “Jmc.Stanford.Edu. Accessed June 15 2018. http://jmc.stanford.edu/artificial-intelligence/what-is-
ai/index.html.
5 2018. Ai100.Stanford.Edu. Accessed June 15 2018. https://ai100.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/ai_100_report_0831fnl.pdf.
6 Qtd. in Committee on Technology, National Science and Technology Council, “Preparing for the Future of Artificial Intelligence” (Executive Office of 
the President of the United States, October 2016), 5, https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/whitehouse_files/microsites/ostp/NSTC/
preparing_for_the_future_of_ai.pdf.
7 “Preparing for the Future of Artificial Intelligence,” 7.
8 Surden, Harry. 2014. “Machine Learning And Law”. Papers.Ssrn.Com. Accessed June 15 2018. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2417415.
9 “Preparing for the Future of Artificial Intelligence”, 5.
10 For a visual explanation of how machine learning works, see, http://www.r2d3.us/visual-intro-to-machine-learning-part-1/

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