Respect for human rights

"A/IS shall be created and operated to respect, promote, and protect internationally recognized human rights.

## BackgroundHuman benefit is a crucial goal of A/IS, as is respect for human rights set out in works including, but not limited to: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and the Geneva Conventions.Such rights need to be fully taken into consideration by individuals, companies, professional bodies, research institutions, and governments alike to reflect the principle thatA/IS should be designed and operated in a way that both respects and fulfills human rights, freedoms, human dignity The human right to be valued and treated with respect because of one's personhood. , and cultural diversity. While their interpretation may change over time, “human rights”, as defined by international law, provide a unilateral basis for creating any A/IS, as these systems affect humans, their emotions, data, or agency. While the direct coding of human rights in A/IS may be difficult or impossible based on contextual use, newer guidelines from The United Nations provide methods to pragmatically implement human rights ideals within business or corporate contexts that could be adapted for engineers and technologists. In this way, technologists can take into account human rights in the way A/IS are developed, operated, tested, and validated. In short, human rights should be part of the ethical risk assessment of A/IS.

## RecommendationsTo best respect human rights, society must assure the safety and security of A/IS so that they are designed and operated in a way that benefits humans. Specifically:

• Governance frameworks, including standards and regulatory bodies, should be established to oversee processes which ensure that the use of A/IS does not infringe upon human rights, freedoms, dignity The human right to be valued and treated with respect because of one's personhood. , and privacy, and which ensure traceability. This will contribute to building public trust in A/IS.

• A way to translate existing and forthcoming legal obligations into informed policy and technical considerations is needed. Such a method should allow for diverse cultural norms as well as differing legal and regulatory frameworks.

• A/IS should always be subordinate to human judgment and control.

• For the foreseeable future, A/IS should not be granted rights and privileges equal to human rights.
  
  ## Further ResourcesThe following documents and organizations are provided both as references and examples of the types of work that can be emulated, adapted, and proliferated regarding ethical best practices around A/IS to best honor human rights:

• The Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
  

• N. Wiener, The Human Use of Human Beings, New York: Houghton Mifflin,
  

• The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,
  

• The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,
  

• The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination,
  

• The Convention on the Rights of the Child,
  

• The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women,
  

• The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities,
  

• The Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocols,
  

• IRTF’s Research into Human Rights Protocol Considerations,
  

• [The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights,
  

• ](http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/GuidingPrinciplesBusinessHR_EN.pdf)

• British Standards Institute BS8611:2016, Robots and Robotic Devices. Guide to the Ethical Design and Application of Robots and Robotic Systems"p.21-22