Could the system have an impact on decisions that affect life, health, or personal safety?
Could the system have an impact on decisions that affect life, health, or personal safety?
- Consider for instance the risk if your AI system is used in the health sector for choosing the right treatment for a patient.
- Is the output of the model accurate and fair?
- Are your datasets representative enough and free from bias?
- Does the system produce outputs, such as fake news, that could put the life of somebody in danger?
- Could the system encourage harmful health practices or medical misinformation?
- Also consider whether the system could lead to loss of human lives or a significant decline in quality of life, especially when used in safety-critical or decision-support contexts.
If you answered Yes then you are at risk
If you are not sure, then you might be at risk too
Recommendations
- Design the system with rigorous safety standards to minimize risks in scenarios affecting the right to life, such as healthcare or emergency response. Ensure datasets are representative and regularly validated for fairness, accuracy, and absence of harmful biases.
- Include safeguards against outputs that may promote harmful practices, misinformation, or decisions endangering life. Conduct robust testing to identify and mitigate potential errors or unintended consequences.
- Prohibit the dissemination of outputs that could incite violence, endanger health, or spread medical misinformation. Establish a monitoring mechanism to flag and rectify such outputs in real-time.
- Engage domain experts, such as healthcare professionals or ethics specialists, in the system design and evaluation process. Use their input to ensure the AI system aligns with ethical standards for protecting life.
- Establish a post-market monitoring system to identify and address risks that may emerge after deployment, especially in dynamic contexts like healthcare or public safety.
- Provide training for users and operators to ensure they understand the system's limitations and ethical implications, particularly in life-critical decision-making contexts. Encourage informed and responsible use through comprehensive documentation and guidelines.
- Create mechanisms for users and affected individuals to challenge decisions that may impact the right to life. Implement a robust redressal process to address grievances and prevent recurrence of harmful outcomes.
Interesting resources/references
- Right to life, No torture and inhuman treatment (Universal Declaration of Human Rights), article 2 Right to life, article 3 Right to the integrity of the person, article 4 Prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (Charter of fundamental rights of the European Union).
- Ethics guidelines for trustworthy AI
- Operational Guidance on taking account of Fundamental Rights in Commission Impact Assessments
- Artificial Intelligence and Fundamental Rights
- Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union