Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly changing how we live, but a new study from Charles Darwin University (CDU) suggests this change comes at a cost: a threat to human dignity on a global scale. The study, led by Dr Maria Randazzo from CDU’s School of Law, highlights how AI is reshaping legal and ethical frameworks, potentially undermining democratic principles and exacerbating existing biases.

According to Dr Randazzo, current AI regulations are failing to adequately protect fundamental human rights and freedoms. Issues such as privacy, anti-discrimination, user autonomy, and intellectual property rights are being overlooked, largely due to the opaque nature of many algorithmic models.

Dr Randazzo describes this lack of openness as a “black box problem,” explaining that the decision-making processes of deep-learning and machine-learning systems are often untraceable. This makes it difficult for individuals to understand why an AI model might have violated their rights and dignity, and to seek justice when necessary.

“This is a very significant issue that is only going to get worse without adequate regulation,” dr Randazzo said.

She also challenges the notion of AI as truly “bright,” stating, “AI is not intelligent in any human sense at all. It is a triumph in engineering, not in cognitive behaviour.” She argues that AI lacks the essential human qualities of thought, memory, empathy, and wisdom, relying instead on pattern recognition.

The study notes the divergent approaches to AI regulation being taken by major global powers: the United States, china, and the European Union, which are leaning on market-centric, state-centric, and human-centric models respectively.

Dr Randazzo advocates for the EU’s human-centric approach as the best way to safeguard human dignity. Though, she cautions that even this approach will fall short without a global commitment to prioritizing human values. “Globally,if we don’t anchor AI development to what makes us human – our capacity to choose,to feel,to reason with care,to empathy and compassion – we risk creating systems that devalue and flatten humanity into data points,rather than improve the human condition,” she said.

Dr Randazzo emphasizes the importance of ensuring that “Humankind must not be treated as a means to an end.”

The study, titled “Human dignity in the age of artificial Intelligence: an overview of legal issues and regulatory regimes,” was published in the Australian Journal of Human Rights and is the first in a planned trilogy on the subject.