The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, has delivered the Annual Lecture of the UCL Institute for Human Rights on the topic ‘People, Power and Society in the Age of AI’, addressing the opportunities and challenges that modern societies face with rapid advancements in AI.
During his broad-ranging, engaging and thoughtful lecture, Mr Türk referred to issues such as disinformation, privacy, environmental challenges, the deepening of inequality and polarisation. The High Commissioner assessed these challenges against international human rights standards, underlining the importance of our existing human rights frameworks – such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights – in developing AI in a fair and inclusive way.
Mr Türk urged: “‘Bigger, faster, better’ – that’s the unofficial slogan of the race to build Artificial General Intelligence. My suggestion? Slower, kinder, wiser.”
The enormously successful lecture – which took place in March, and formed part of UCL200 celebrations marking the institution’s bicentenary – was followed by a question and answer session with Professor Virginia Mantouvalou (Professor of Human Rights and Labour Law, and Co-Director of the Institute for Human Rights), who chaired the event. The discussion drew contributions from a diverse audience that included students, academics, practising lawyers, and representatives of civil society organisations.
Find out more
- Read the full text of the High Commissioner’s lecture
- Watch the event recording
- UCL Institute for Human Rights
Image (top): Peggy Hicks (OHCHR), Professor George Letsas (UCL Laws; Co-Director of the Institute for Human Rights), Professor Virginia Mantouvalou (UCL Laws; Co-Director of the Institute for Human Rights), Volker Türk (UN High Commissioner for Human Rights), Colm O’Cinneide (UCL Laws), Dr Kate Cronin-Furman (UCL Political Science; Co-Director of the Institute for Human Rights) and Professor Phillip Ayoub (UCL Political Science).
Image (below): Volker Türk and Professor Virginia Mantouvalou.