Parliamentarians call for new laws to address AI threats

The Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) have issued a report which calls for new bill to “address the scale and seriousness” of human rights risks posed by AI.

The cross-party groups of MPs and Peers argue that current laws are not sufficient to meet the threats of artificial intelligence on human rights. The committee chair, Labour MP Alex Sobel, said: “Nowhere in the world, including the UK, has a current legislative and regulatory approach to AI that is fit for purpose”.

The report, which runs to over 100 pages, argues that artificial intelligence can bring real benefits, both in economic growth and in human rights. However, it also presents “novel and serious human rights risks”.

The committee note that these human rights risk particularly affect minority groups such as Black and Minority Ethnic people, including profiling prisoners in ways that disproportionally affect these groups. They also identify issues with sexual deepfakes, facial recognition in public places, and flagging workers for disciplinary action without cause.

Although there are laws and regulations that apply to artificial intelligence systems, they note that “the legal landscape is patchy and confused” without a single regulator coordinating a response to AI harms.

The report calls on the government to introduce an AI Bill to set up a new regulator and provide effective human right protections for the UK. They say: “The most dangerous uses of AI should be banned, and others should be regulated in a principled and risk-based way, with strong sanctions for companies and organisations who damage human rights through their use of AI systems.”

Sobel commented that: “AI is heralded as an unprecedented era of technological development with the potential to transform our lives for better or for worse. It is moving with such speed and complexity that its impact is hard to accurately predict. What is clear is that at present we are unprepared to deal with its consequences however potentially dire they may be.”

Labour promised in their 2024 manifesto to “ensure the safe development and use of AI models by introducing binding regulation on the handful of companies developing the most powerful AI models”. While a commitment to “appropriate legislation” was promised in 2024’s King’s Speech, no AI Bill was mention in this year’s Speech.

Education Minister Georgia Gould told the BBC: “There is action happening and we're continuing to really carefully monitor the rise of AI, the way the technology is evolving and making sure we're staying alongside it and we have some of the best people in the world doing that work.”