Practical Toolkits for AI Risk Mitigation for Businesses | IGF 2023 Launch / Award Event #43

9 Oct 2023 00:45h - 10 Oct 2023 01:15h UTC

Event report

Speakers:
  • Nusrat Khan, UNDP, Intergovernmental Organisation
  • Soujanya Sridharan, Aapti Institute, Civil Society, Asia-Pacific Group
Moderators:
  • Vinay Narayan, Aapti Institute, Civil Society, Asia-Pacific Group

Event desciption

Aapti Institute and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) under the Business and Human Rights in Asia programme undertook a research project to explore the impact of AI deployment by businesses in India on human rights. This research understands the impact of AI deployment on human rights of consumers in the sectors of healthcare and financial services, and the labour force in sectors of retail and gig economy. The report identifies the human rights risks affecting consumers and workers, proceeding to suggest sector-specific pathways for risk mitigation, outlining specific roles for the State and businesses. As part of the report, we have developed sector-specific risk assessment toolkits for businesses to adopt, helping them to identify and mitigate risks. These toolkits have been developed in conjunction with relevant stakeholders, and contain action items for each stakeholder. We believe that this research is crucial and timely given the rapid growth of AI across numerous sectors. While the efficiency gains of AI can be enormous for businesses and the government, its impact on human rights remains understudied. The pace of advancement in AI technologies has resulted in them functioning in an environment lacking in adequate regulatory mechanisms. In this context, we believe this Risk Assessment Toolkit serves as a unique self-regulating mechanism that can be adopted by businesses to mitigate against human rights risks from AI deployment – thereby making such technologies more rights-respecting. Through this Launch, we look to draw attention to this risk assessment toolkit and further the dialogue around how we can create a balanced rights-based approach to the governance of AI, especially from the perspective of human rights defenders and technology developers. The report, along with the risk assessment toolkit can be accessed here: https://thedigitalpubliclab.com/work-embed.html?link=https://www.undp.o…