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The Broken Rung

Review: Human Rights, Robot Wrongs

HumanRights, RobotWrongs, by Susie Alegre, argues that human rights law should be enshrined in the foundation, legislation, and the lens through which global societies view and oversee AI and other emerging technologies.
The book contains nine chapters, which each tackle a separate designated purpose for AI and then describes the human rights issues associated with those technologies.

The author prefaces that the content is an analysis of AI with a “human slant” rather than a technological discussion. It is clear she is passionate and extremely knowledgeable about human rights law.

Despite the disclaimer, it is difficult to refrain from criticising the lack of technological material given the work’s title and subject matter. It also may have bolstered her recommendations. Instead, the reader was treated to surface level anecdotes that offered some interesting facts, but no new solutions—only sweeping generalities that have been repeated ad nauseum throughout legal tech communities as well as the work itself.

As mentioned in the introduction, the book was intended for laypersons and those unfamiliar with the risks of deploying AI systems. The author has a knack for simplifying otherwise tedious topics and creating an intriguing story.

It is a good read for those interested in the potential ramifications to human rights and how to recognise when the effects of a technology may be depriving society of one or more of those rights.

For readers who are better versed on the subject, however, it makes for a brief read, but will not necessarily provide any novel information.

Additionally, there are some glaring errors when glossing over the technological components that may detract from the overall message for those with deeper insight. The verve of the introduction needed to be sustained throughout the work.

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