UN calls for 'urgent' action over AI's risk to human rights

The United Nations' (UN) head of human rights has called for all member states to put a moratorium on the sale and use of artificial intelligence systems. UN high commissioner for human rights Michelle Bachelet acknowledged that AI can be a "force for good" but that it could also have "negative, even catastrophic, effects" if the risks It poses are not addressed. Bachelet's comments come alongside a new report from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). The report analyses how AI affects people's rights to privacy, health, education, freedom of movement, amongst other things. "Artificial intelligence now reaches into almost every corner of our physical and mental lives and even emotional states. AI systems are used to determine who gets public services, decide who has a chance to be recruited for a job, and of course they affect what information people see and can share online," Bachelet said.