Although the history of information and communication technologies has been filled with and fueled by innovation, some advances lead to step-changes that have significant reverberations across the broader technology stack and society. GNI is focused on how emerging technologies impact existing networks and services and create new ones, as well as how those technologies and impacts are governed.
We believe artificial intelligence (AI) should be understood at a general level as a set of software innovations that build on and influence existing socio-technological and informational systems. As such, we do not believe that new epistemological paradigms are necessary to understand the potential impact of or design effective governance for AI. These innovations hold tremendous power, due to their ability to augment and automate data generation, dissemination, interpretation, and use. They should be carefully studied and considered, through the lens of human rights and with a particular focus on their implications for those rights.
GNI has been working with members, as well as outside partners including the UN and OECD to develop guidance on AI governance that builds on and benefits from the experience of existing business and human rights practice. For example, GNI worked with UN B-Tech and others to develop a foundational paper on Advancing Responsible Development and Deployment of Generative AI, as well as a related taxonomy and a supplement on responsible company AI practice.
We have also been exploring how member companies approach these technologies, including their related policies and human rights due diligence practices, through the GNI assessment process. In addition, we have used our convening power to bring together diverse practitioners and experts to discuss the practical application of human rights assessment methodologies to these new technologies, as well as the role of government in procuring, using, and regulating them.
Building off of those convenings and the work of our internal AI Working Group, GNI produced a Policy Brief on Government Interventions in AI, which sets forth a taxonomy of government interventions from R&D investments to regulation and examines their human rights implications at the infrastructure, development, and deployment layers of the AI stack.
Read about our latest work on AI and emerging technologies below:
