Policy Brief No. 196 — February 2025
Applying International Human Rights Principles for AI Governance Sabhanaz Rashid Diya
Key Points → Despite gaining prominence, the fairness, accountability, transparency and ethics (FATE) framework in artificial intelligence (AI) governance poses significant limitations. It is inadequately defined to meet the complexities of a pluralistic world, lacks consensus on normative values underpinning it, is prone to misuse and misrepresentation, and inadvertently promotes ethics washing. → The International Bill of Human Rights, while not devoid of criticism and implementation challenges, provides a universal foundation for building consensus around value archetypes within and between societies. → Canada can play a critical leadership role in international AI governance through the Global Digital Compact, as well as its membership in the Group of 20 (G20) and its presidency in the Group of Seven (G7), by establishing human rights frameworks as a governance norm for AI systems.
Introduction AI has increasingly captured policy attention, leading to its usage doubling in global legislative proceedings, from 1,247 in 2022 to 2,175 in 2023 (Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence 2024). But despite the frenetic pace of this new technology, questions persist about the normative values underpinning AI governance. Some researchers have questioned how AI systems can better align with human values, while others argue that these systems “lock in” specific value archetypes that reflect those of their developers and designers (Gabriel and Ghazavi 2021). “Value sensitive design,” particularly in technology, is focused on what people consider important in their lives, with an emphasis on ethics and morality (Friedman and Hendry 2019). However, moral discourse is saturated with disagreements. American communitarian theorist Michael J. Sandel (2011) argues that morality is centred around three major ideas — maximizing welfare, respecting freedoms and promoting virtues — and each ethical theory “points to a different way of thinking about justice.” Eastern philosopher Li Zehou contends that justice is intertwined with harmony (D’Ambrosio 2016), while Nobel Prize winner and economist Amartya Sen (2012) proposes making comparative judgments