IBA Annual Conference Rome 2018

7 Oct - 12 Oct 2018

Session Room O, Level -1

Session information

AI DAY Robots, rights and responsible business: is artificial intelligence a force for good or an expedient evil?

Thursday 11 October (1615 - 1730)

Session Room O, Level -1

Committee(s)

Business Human Rights Committee (Lead)

Description

Artificial intelligence (AI) and its many applications are developing faster than most can keep track of. Law and regulation lag far behind the realities of technology. While AI promises many positive benefits, its immense potential human rights impacts are evident. Soon, machines may make life and death decisions: in medical diagnosis and treatment, or on (or above) the battlefield. Automation dominates many industries, and unmanned vehicles will soon take to the roads. What does this mean for the workforces of advanced economies and for the populations of developing nations who will be denied the benefits of labour-intensive industrialisation? What about the ethics of algorithms – will human biases infect machines and perpetuate discrimination, and how will we monitor and regulate these areas? Within businesses, engineers and technicians need to think ethics and human rights as well as physics and maths. Lawyers advising businesses will increasingly help them grapple with the human rights impacts of their innovations and create frameworks to ensure technological advances represent the 'right thing' in more than just monetary and efficiency terms. Embedding respect for human rights in business governance has never been so necessary. This panel will discuss the human rights implications of AI and how lawyers can help businesses address the challenges, opportunities and dilemmas.

Session / Workshop Chair(s)

Lillian Rae Lindsay Clifford Chance LLP, London, England; Co-Chair, Business Human Rights Committee

Speakers

Elise Groulx Diggs 9 Bedford Row Chambers, Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Vice Chair, Business Human Rights Committee
Robert Heslett CBE The Law Society of England & Wales, London, England; IBA Council MemberLaw Society of England and Wales
Jan Kleijssen Council of Europe, Strasbourg, France
Yannick Meneceur Council of Europe, Strasbourg, France
Stefano Siglienti Vintage Capital Srl, Milan, Italy