Recognising that society is cowering before a “tsunami of tech hype”, Susie Alegre has written an eye-opening book to dispel it. The central message of Human Rights, Robot Wrongs is clear: AI “needs to serve, rather than subvert, our humanity”. In around 200 pages, Alegre highlights some egregious “robot wrongs” – instances where our humanity is subverted – and challenges us to act.
First, she says, we need to consider what really matters and what makes us human. Befitting an international lawyer, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is her point of reference. Drafted after the Holocaust when “civilised” man inflicted unspeakable suffering on fellow man, it distils in the form of rights aspects of existence which, by consensus, we most hold dear. The right to life; the right to respect for private and family life; the prohibition against inhuman and degrading treatment – all these core rights are threatened, says Alegre, by an unthinking use of AI.
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