CAIDP Debrief

Details

 

CAIDP Research Fellow Ayca Ariyoruk and CAIDP Executive Director Marc Rotenberg participated in many AI Ppolicy events during the 80th UN General Assembly in New York City. They will provide an update about significant outcomes, the work ahead, and the role of CAIDP.

 

Logistics

 

Wednesday, October 1, 10:00 am EDT (virtual)

 

Zoom LInk

 

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/WzQJg8OGQDSiOypnQGRMaQ

 

 

Ayca Ariyoruk, CAIDP Senior Fellow

 

Ayca Ariyoruk is a global policy strategist and cross-cultural ethics advisor in artificial intelligence with two decades of experience spanning diplomacy, technology, and education. She is a Senior Fellow at the Washington-based Center for AI and Digital Policy. Her research focuses on the societal and geopolitical risks of emerging technologies.

 

Ayca has long engaged with the United Nations, serving as an observer to the Security Council on nuclear nonproliferation and contributing to negotiations that led to key reforms, including the creation of the UN Human Rights Council. At the United Nations Association of the USA (now part of the UN Foundation), she championed greater transparency in UN leadership by conducting the first-ever public interviews with Secretary-General candidates at the end of Kofi Annan’s term. The interviews went viral, marking the first time a traditionally secretive process was exposed to public scrutiny and setting a precedent for greater accountability at the UN.

 

She holds an M.A. in Diplomacy and International Relations from Seton Hall University, where her graduate thesis examined UN peace operations and U.S. military interventions in Somalia and Rwanda, and a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.

Marc Rotenberg, CAIDP Executive Director

 

Marc Rotenberg is Executive Director and Founder of the Center for AI and Digital Policy. He is a global expert on data protection and AI policy. He has served on many international advisory panels, including the OECD AI Group of Experts. Marc helped draft the Universal Guidelines for AI, a widely endorsed human rights framework for the governance of Artificial Intelligence.

 

Marc has spoken frequently before the US Congress, the European Parliament, the OECD, UNESCO, judicial conferences, and international organizations. Marc has directed international comparative law studies on Privacy and Human Rights, Cryptography and Liberty, and Artificial Intelligence and Democratic Values. Marc is the author of leading reference books on AI, data protection, and open government. He publishes widely in academic and popular journals. Marc is a member of the American Bar Foundation, the American Law Institute, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the European Law Institute.

 

Marc is a graduate of Harvard College (AB), Stanford Law School (JD), and Georgetown Law (LLM, International and comparative law).

 

 

Articles about UNGA 80 and AI

 

CAIDP Statement for UN GA 80

KEY POINTS

  • CAIDP has made many contributions to the work of the United Nations on AI Policy
  • CAIDP strongly supports the work of the UN on AI Policy
  • CAIDP’s Recommendations for the 80th General Assembly
    1. Establish the UN Special Rapporteur for AI and Human Rights
    2. Establish Red Lines for AI systems that undermine human rights, and terminate those in use
    3. Ban Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems 
    4. Endorse the Council of Europe Framework Convention on AI, Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law

 

Previous CAIDP Statements to the UN

• In 2022, in honor of UN Human Rights Day, CAIDP urged the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to encourage UN member states to report on the impact of AI on fundamental rights set out in the ICCPR.

 

• In the 2022 CAIDP Index, we highlighted UNOHCR Michelle Bachelet's call for a moratorium on the sale of AI that poses a serious risk to human rights until adequate safeguards are put in place. As she explained, "Artificial intelligence can be a force for good, helping societies overcome some of the great challenges of our times. But AI technologies can have negative, even catastrophic, effects if they are used without sufficient regard to how they affect people’s human rights."

 

• We urged the UN Global Digital Compact (GDC) facilitators to propose transparent, democratic AI-governance processes. We highlighted the need for meaningful civil society participation, and reporting on AI impacts on privacy, fair trials, equal protection.

 

• In 2023, we set out a Five Point Action Plan for AI Governance for the UN AI Advisory Board.CAIDP urged the Advisory Board to (1) review current national AI policies and practices, (2) Support the Universal Guidelines for AI, (3) Establish clear

prohibitions on certain AI applications and systems, (4) Establish the IPAI – the International Panel on Artificial Intelligence to monitor the impact of AI on society, and (5) Continued implementation of the UNESCO Recommendation on AI Ethics.

 

• Responding to GA Resolution 78/241 on Lethal Autonomous Weapons, CAIDP

urged the General Assembly to adopt a legally binding treaty to (1) ban LAWS that

can kill or harm without human control, (2) preserve human responsibility and

accountability for any use of lethal force and ensure compliance with international

humanitarian and human rights law, and (3) prohibit the integration of AI-enabled

autonomy with weapons of mass destruction.

 

• In a 2024 letter, CAIDP urged changes to the draft Global Digital Compact. We wrote, “We closely follow and acknowledge each of the milestones achieved by the UN with ethical, inclusive, responsible AI. In our observations, we are equally mindful of the need to sustain capacity and resource management to keep pace with rapid developments in AI."

 

• On the occasion of UNGA 79, CAIDP again urged the General Assembly to fulfill

Resolution 78/241 and (1) ban lethal autonomous weapons systems that can kill or

harm without human control, (2) preserve human responsibility for the use of lethal force, and (3) prohibit AI-enabled weapons of mass destruction, establishing clear

standards for human control, oversight, proportionality, and risk assessment.

 

• In comments to UNESCO’s consultation on “AI Regulation Emerging Approaches

Across the World,” CAIDP proposed (1) consolidating overlapping regulatory

approaches, (2) distinguishing AI strategies from AI methods and tools, and (3)

anchoring AI governance in human rights, democracy, and the rule of law. CAIDP

also called for broader geographic coverage, and tracking of regulatory progress,

citing harms such as the Dutch tax scandal and deepfakes as reasons for AI

regulation.

 

• In comments on the UN AI Advisory Board’s report on “AI for Humanity,” we proposed (1) a ban AI systems that cannot be operated in compliance with international human rights law, (2) responsible AI policies grounded in UNESCO’s

Recommendation on AI Ethics and the Universal Guidelines for AI, and (3) a Special Rapporteur on AI and Human Rights. CAIDP also emphasized capacity-building and

equitable AI governance for the Global South.

 

• In a statement to the UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW),

CAIDP urged High Contracting Parties to (1) impose an immediate moratorium on

lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS), (2) classify “loitering” AI missile

systems as weapons of mass destruction, (3) ban AI systems that cannot be

operated consistently with international humanitarian and human rights law, (4)

adopt standardized reporting with independent oversight, and (5) support

appointment of a UN Special Rapporteur on AI and Human Rights. We warned that

autonomous weapons systems heighten the risks of mass harm, underscoring the

need for urgent multilateral action.

 

Earlier this year, CAIDP advised the OHCHR on AI and the Judiciary. We set out

several recommendations, including the need for red lines, independent governance, impact assessments, and comprehensive training and capacity

building. We said it was necessary to “Establish safeguards to uphold the presumption of innocence, protect human dignity, and ensure that human actors

retain legal accountability for any deployment of AI in judicial processes.”

 

• In another statement earlier this year, CAIDP urged the UN Member States to

put Human Rights First in Global AI Governance. We urged the UN to (1) adopt

AI-specific public procurement and deployment policies, (2) mandate human-rights-based impact assessments, (3) establish clear red lines prohibiting unscientific or rights-incompatible systems, (4) implement the UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of AI and the Universal Guidelines for AI, and (5) create a UN Special Rapporteur on AI and Human Rights.

 

• We also addressed Safeguarding Women and Girls in the Digital Era. We proposed enhanced accountability for social media companies and prioritizing the protection of girls from the dual risks as children and as the targets of gender-based violence.

 

CAIDP Resources

AI and Democratic Values Report - CAIDP Index 2025 (CAIDP 2025)
AI and Democratic Values Report - CAIDP Index 2025 (CAIDP 2025)