A cross-party group of UK MPs and peers has called for the creation of a new Artificial Intelligence Bill to strengthen protections against human rights abuses arising from the rapid development and deployment of AI.
The Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR), in a report, warned that existing laws and regulatory arrangements in UK are not equipped to address the scale and seriousness of the risks associated with the technology.
According to the committee, current legislation is fragmented and largely places responsibility on those using AI systems rather than on the developers and organisations creating them.
The report argued that this regulatory gap is becoming increasingly significant as AI systems become more sophisticated and are incorporated into decisions affecting people’s lives, including areas involving privacy, profiling, employment, public services and other fundamental rights.
The JCHR also highlighted the importance of ensuring that individuals know when AI is being used to make decisions about them and have access to effective remedies when those decisions cause harm.
Labour MP Alex Sobel, Chair of the JCHR, stated that the pace of technological development has made the consequences of AI increasingly difficult to predict.
“AI is moving with such speed and complexity that its impact is hard to accurately predict. What is clear is that at present we are unprepared to deal with its consequences however potentially dire they may be.
Alex Sobel
“Nowhere in the world, including the UK, has a current legislative and regulatory approach to AI that is fit for purpose.”
He added, “a new legislation is needed to establish a comprehensive set of protections that deal with the entire AI supply chain and its lifecycle. A single AI regulator should be established to set policy, monitor performance and with the teeth to ensure enforcement.”
The committee’s intervention comes as governments, technology companies and researchers face growing pressure to balance the economic and social opportunities created by AI against concerns over its potential consequences.
While AI has been promoted as a technology capable of transforming industries, improving productivity and supporting innovation, concerns over privacy, discrimination, misinformation, biometric surveillance and the misuse of increasingly autonomous systems have intensified.
According to JCHR, regulation should therefore focus not only on how AI is used, but also on the development process itself and the responsibilities of companies throughout the technology’s lifecycle.
The committee called for a risk-based regulatory framework under which AI systems posing greater risks to human rights would face more stringent obligations. It also recommended that certain applications be prohibited entirely where they are considered incompatible with fundamental rights.
Among the potential areas for prohibition, the committee identified subliminal techniques and inappropriate uses of profiling and biometric data.
MPs Demand Stronger Oversight
Growing worries that current regulations are unable to keep up with advancements in artificial intelligence are evident in the JCHR’s proposals.
According to the committee, AI has already played a part in certain violations of human rights, such as the production of sexualised photographs of women and girls and the unapproved scanning of people’s features.
It also raised concerns over algorithmic bias, particularly where AI systems are trained on large datasets collected from the internet that may contain racist, sexist or otherwise harmful material.
According to the committee, these risks demonstrate why regulation cannot focus solely on the final user of an AI system.
The JCHR also wants individuals to have greater transparency over when AI is being used in decisions that affect them.
According to Mr. Sobel, “this is about making sure that you, as an individual, know when AI is being used in the decisions that affect you.”
“We also want to make sure that if something does go wrong then avenues of redress will be available. We need these protections in now, it cannot wait until (these) human rights risks become reality.”
Alex Sobel
Earlier, Anthropic Chief Executive Dario Amodei warned that AI had been “advancing drastically faster” since the summer.
The entrepreneur, whose company developed the AI assistant Claude, subsequently outlined a three-part plan for developing the technology at a more controlled pace.
His proposal received support from other prominent figures in the technology industry, including OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman and Elon Musk.
Amodei’s plan includes global regulation, industry-wide rules and independent monitoring of AI models during development. He has also argued for slowing the pace of frontier AI development.
UK Government has acknowledged that AI is developing at an extraordinary pace while maintaining that the technology presents both opportunities and risks.
According to a government spokesperson, “we’re leading global efforts to test and understand AI, with the best-resourced security institute in the world, that will help us develop the standards and safeguards necessary to keep people safe.”
Communities Secretary Angela Rayner has also welcomed discussions within the technology industry about the potential dangers of AI, noting that she was pleased companies were “talking about the threats as well as the opportunities.”
However, the JCHR’s report suggests that voluntary measures and the existing regulatory framework may not be sufficient to manage the emerging risks.
The committee argued that a single independent AI oversight body should be established on a statutory basis, giving it the authority to monitor risks, investigate harms and enforce compliance.
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