APC submission to the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights on the issue of procurement and deployment of AI systems by states and business enterprises

This submission aims to provide input for the drafting of the report “The Use of Artificial Intelligence and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights”, to be prepared by the UN Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises for presentation to the UN Human Rights Council. It addresses the “questions for other stakeholders” as per the call for inputs made available by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): 

1. What do you consider are the main human rights risks linked to the procurement and deployment of AI systems by states and in which area?
2. What do you consider are the main human rights risks linked to the procurement and deployment of AI systems by business enterprises outside the technology sector in their operations, products and services and in which area?
3. Are there any policies, regulations or frameworks taken at the national, regional and international levels to address the human rights risks linked to the procurement and/or deployment of AI by states? What are the main opportunities to adopt and/or strengthen these frameworks?
4. Are there any emerging positive business practices that include human rights requirements when procuring and deploying AI?
5. How have businesses outside the technology sector included human rights impacts related to the procurement and deployment of AI systems in their human rights due diligence processes?
6. How can businesses and states meaningfully engage with relevant stakeholders, including potentially affected rights holders and workers, to identify and address adverse human rights impacts related to the procurement and deployment of AI?
7. Are there any positive practices of businesses providing access to remedy when they have caused or contributed to adverse human rights impacts linked to the procurement of AI systems and their deployment across their activities, including through the establishment of operational-level grievance mechanisms?
8. Are there any positive practices related to state-based remedy mechanisms in relation to human rights impacts linked to the procurement and deployment of AI?
9. What state-based remedy mechanisms are available to victims in case of adverse human rights impacts linked to the procurement and deployment of AI systems by businesses and state entities? Are there any court cases or judgments that you are aware of related to the procurement or deployment of AI by the state or businesses and human rights implications?
10. Are there any state, business or CSO-led processes or systems to provide protection for human rights defenders that may be at risk and/or affected by AI systems procured and deployed by state entities or business enterprises?
11. Please provide any comments, suggestions or additional information that you consider relevant to this thematic report.

Read the full submission here.