HRC63 - EU Statement - Implications of artificial intelligence for the promotion and protection of human rights EU General Comment
UN Human Rights Council
63th session – Item 3
L.25 - General Comment
Implications of artificial intelligence for the promotion and protection of human rights
EU General Comment
Mr. President,
I have the honor to speak on behalf of the EU member states that are members of this Council. This statement has been agreed by the EU as a whole.
The EU welcomes resolution L.25 on the Implications of artificial intelligence for the promotion and protection of human rights. It is important and very timely that the Human Rights Council raises its voice on the need to ensure that meaningful, human rights-based AI governance keeps pace with its accelerating development and unprecedented risks to human rights.
The EU has adopted the approach of responsible and trustworthy AI innovation. We support AI that is safe, secure, and sustainable, so that everyone can trust it. We want to unlock the potential of AI to reap its benefits, while implementing safeguards and mitigating the associated risks. Therefore, our approach is based on human rights, placing individuals, their dignity, agency, rights, freedoms and well-being at the centre of the whole AI lifecycle. We reiterate in this regard, that the same rights that people have offline must also be protected online.
We thank the core group for their constructive and inclusive approach in the informals and the balanced text. We especially welcome the references to the need for human rights due diligence and meaningful human oversight and human control, for multistakeholder participation in developing governance frameworks, and the principles of transparency, explainability and accountability. We also welcome the request for the OHCHR to hold consultations at the side-lines of the 2nd Global Dialogue on AI Governance next year.
The EU encourages the core group to continue to strive for coherence, complementarity and alternation with other Human Rights Council resolutions touching upon New and Emerging Technologies. We hope this resolution will be adopted by consensus.
Thank you.