Ethics of Science and Technology and Human Rights Protection in the Digital Age

— Symposium to Commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
 

Han Xiutao, Executive Director of the Center for Sci&Tech and Human Rights, Beijing Institute of Technology

 

The advancement of science and technology has been closely associated with the protection of human rights since the dawn of the industrial society. As a key catalyst for social change, science and technology not only provide a rich material foundation for improving people’s wellbeing, but also add to the theoretical connotation and practical value of human rights. General Secretary Xi Jinping said, “We shall carry out scientific and technological innovation to meet the people’s yearning for a better life, working to bring benefits and wealth to the people and improve their wellbeing.” With the advent of the era of intelligent technology, new technologies represented by generative artificial intelligence (AI) are changing the mode of working and life. As intelligent technologies bring convenience to our working and life, we see the emergence and aggravation of risks in science and technology ethics such as personal privacy leakage, lack of data security, algorithm “black box”, deep-fake, information cocoon, big data-enabled price discrimination against existing customers, digital divide, and “data poisoning”, which become a real human rights issue that countries around the world must address. Therefore, it has become a serious topic of human rights research in the digital age to raise the awareness of AI technology ethics, tighten the governance of AI technology ethics, put AI technology innovation on a safe, reliable and responsible footing, and ensure the coordination of science and technology advances and human rights protection.
 

China is a major country in digital resources, and is basically in line with the international community in terms of governance of ethics of digital technologies such as AI. In addition to relevant legislation, China has preliminarily established a relatively complete set of institutional norms for, inter alia, development planning, governance principles, risk guidelines, ethical norms, and ethical review. According to the Circular of the State Council on Issuing the Development Plan for New-Generation Artificial Intelligence released on July 8, 2017, China would enact laws, regulations, and ethical norms to promote the development of AI, formulate ethical norms and codes of conduct governing AI product R&D and design personnel, and establish a multi-level judgment structure for ethics and morality as well as an ethical framework for human-computer collaboration. On June 17, 2019, the National Governance Committee for the New Generation Artificial Intelligence issued the Governance Principles for the New Generation Artificial Intelligence – Developing Responsible Artificial Intelligence, which set out eight principles including respect for privacy. On January 5, 2021, the Secretariat of the National Information Security Standardization Technical Committee issued the Practice Guide to Cybersecurity Standards – Guidelines for the Prevention of Ethical Security Risks in Artificial Intelligence, which sets out guidelines for the prevention of ethical security risks throughout the life cycle of activities such as AI research and development, design and manufacturing, deployment and application. On September 25 of the same year, the National Governance Committee for the New Generation Artificial Intelligence issued the Ethics Norms for the New Generation Artificial Intelligence, which set out six ethical requirements, including improving human wellbeing, upholding fairness and justice, protecting privacy security, ensuring control and credibility, highlighting responsibility, and improving ethical literacy. For the governance of ethics of digital technology such as AI, China has always implemented the basic policy of using science and technology for the people, fulfilled the concept of science and technology for good, and upheld the view of human rights in the new era that “people’s happiness is the greatest human right” into the design and practice of ethical governance system, to promote the balanced development of technological innovation and human rights protection. 
 

Compared to traditional technologies, AI is characterized by being more disruptive. While promoting technological advance, its rapid iteration and evolution also bring uncertainties, conflicts and negative effects that spill over, and gradually become a dispersed social risk. Therefore, the ethics of AI technology is a highly complicated practical activity, which is reflected in technical design, product behavior, and application scenarios throughout the life cycle, and which involves the conflicting interest demands of multiple participants such as implementation actors, technical route developers, infrastructure owners, and the public. On March 20, 2022, the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council issued the guidelines to strengthen the governance over ethics in science and technology, which regards AI as one of the key areas in which the governance of science and technology ethics needs to be strengthened. On September 7, 2023, 10 government departments including the Ministry of Science and Technology of China jointly studied, drafted and issued the Measures for Scientific and Technological Ethics Review (for Trial Implementation) with the approval of the Central Science and Technology Commission (CSTC), which includes AI in the scope for which the Sci-tech Ethics (Review) Committee should be established. AI ethics review is required for four of the seven categories of emerging technology activities with major risks that are subject to list-based management. 
 

The aforesaid norms make special provisions on AI ethics, which highlights the extreme importance of AI ethics governance, and also points out some prominent problems in the field of AI ethics governance. First, compared to the rapid iteration of technology, the system that can be executed is lacking, the bottom line of compliance is unclear, ethical review and supervision are lacking, and there are no supporting punishment measures. Second, while technology penetration is increasing in more areas, the personnel in the industry and industrial clusters lack ethics awareness. They are absorbed in technological innovation, giving little consideration to ethical issues. Existing problems include a lack of motivation for ethical review, incompetence, a lack of clear rules, unstandardized operation, and rough handling. Third, enterprises mainly promote technological innovation, but show little enthusiasm for participating in ethical governance. The boundaries of and the mechanism for enterprise participation are unclear, and enterprises exhibit a lack of experience, ability, and willingness to participate in governance. The above issues are the salient reasons for problems of AI ethics governance, and also highlight the necessity, urgency, and importance of AI ethics governance.
 

Ethics is the principle of human relations and morality, referring to moral code that governs people-to-people relationships. Traditional Chinese society places a high value on ethical relations and advocates moral standards. China has a distinctive and rich ethical and moral evaluation system, which is a cultural symbol that represents and demonstrates the significant strengths of Chinese civilization. Currently, digital technology is advancing in leaps and bounds, digital transformation is being accelerated, and a digital society is emerging. China, a digital resource powerhouse, will surely become a major power in digital governance. In October 2019, the fourth plenary session of the 19th CPC Central Committee put forward the idea of “data as a factor of production” for the first time. It is also the first time in human history that data is regarded as a factor of production. In July 2023, seven ministries and commissions including the Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission jointly issued the Interim Measures for the Administration of Generative Artificial Intelligence Services, which became the world’s first law governing generative AI. Therefore, as the creator of Chinese-style governance of AI ethics, China has become a pioneer in global digital governance, and will lead the governance of science and technology ethics in the digital era. 
 

In the speech delivered at the third group study session of the Political Bureau of the 20th CPC Central Committee on February 21, 2023, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized the need to make forward-looking planning and participate in global science and technology governance, improve laws and regulations, ethical review rules and regulatory framework, strive to promote openness, trust and cooperation in the international scientific and technological community, and make greater contributions to the progress of human civilization through more major original innovations and breakthroughs in key and core technologies. In view of the digital China strategy, it is necessary to further strengthen the governance of AI ethics to promote international human rights governance in the digital era. The first is to uphold the concept of science and technology for good as well as the values of ethics priority, reflect ethics and morality throughout the life cycle of AI, raise the AI ethics awareness and behavioral consciousness in the whole society, guide responsible AI R&D and application activities, promote the healthy development of the AI industry, and ensure that scientific and technological innovations in the digital era can meet people's yearning for a better life. The second is to strengthen the governance of science and technology ethics, particularly by tightening legal supervision, strengthening ethical review, and promoting law-based governance. At the same time, the roles of decision-making consulting, scientific community autonomy, and public participation are brought into play to realize the mutual promotion and dynamic regulation of technological advance and ethics governance. The third is to make clear the principal parties that bear responsibility, ensure the fulfillment of the ethical gatekeeping responsibilities of innovation parties in the industrial chain such as design and development, product promotion, and application scenarios, and ensure that scientific research, technology development, and other technological activities must be in line with socialist values and conform to socialist code of conduct. 

In summary, human rights are of historical and contemporary nature. The sole goal of science is to alleviate the suffering of mankind, which is consistent with the essence of science and technology for the people and for good. Compared to 75 years ago, when the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was promulgated, science and technology have a profound effect on everyone’s wellbeing in today’s digital age as never before. Intelligent technology in the digital age overhauls the traditional social form, and also gives new theoretical connotation and practical significance to human rights in the new era. Therefore, we can effectively promote global human rights governance in the era of intelligent technology if we adapt to the new situation, new trends, and new characteristics of the human rights cause, value the ethical review of science and technology, optimize the governance of science and technology ethics, strike a balance between technological innovation and human rights protection, and better respect and protect human rights in the digital era.