Artificial Intelligence and the spread of Hate Speech and Propaganda

Artificial Intelligence (AI), a field combining computer science and robust datasets to enable problem-solving, has been evolving at a fast pace in recent years, allowing machines to think and act like human beings. In a more tech-saturated and smarter world, AI is increasingly becoming a force of change, helping societies overcome some of the most significant challenges of our times. However, AI has also brought about harmful practices and disruptive effects with detrimental impacts on human rights standards, potentially outweighing the gains of such technology.

During the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies (MIGS) Forum on Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights, Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA), the Platform for Peace and Humanity, and the Sentinel Project - with the support of our long-standing partner, The Global Action Against Mass Atrocity Crimes (GAAMAC), are organizing a panel discussion on April, 29^th 2022 at 11 am EST / 5 pm CET on “AI and the spread of hate speech & propaganda: Challenges and possibilities in the use of AI and its legislative regulation.”

AI-enabled propaganda, hate speech, and missing policy remedies are some of the challenges associated with emerging technologies. Therefore, this panel session will tackle the use of AI in terms of the prohibition of propaganda for war and the use of online monitoring tools to respond to the spread of hate speech. As higher risks are posed to humanity, speakers will also discuss how human-centric AI laws and stricter legal requirements for its use can be adopted to prevent and address the repression of vulnerable individuals and groups through risk assessment and policy recommendations.

In recent years there has been a progressive deterioration in the integrity of political discourse, including a decline in the trustworthiness of information and a rise in “dangerous speech” that increases the risk of violence. To curb this trend, PGA launched, in 2021, the Global Parliamentary Code of Democratic Conduct as a mechanism to hold parliamentarians accountable for their speech, commit themselves to demand dialogue respectful of all and refrain from disinformation.

Hear from some of the world’s top experts on disinformation, online hate and freedom of speech, authoritarian tech, AI ethics and governance, and global cooperation, including: