The draft Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence, Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law is on its way to be adopted by the Committee of Ministers and will be the first binding legal instrument of this scale in this field. The report of Christophe Lacroix (Belgium, SOC) approved by the Parliamentary Assembly in 2020 (Doc. 15151) paved the way for a reflection on how to guarantee the rule of law, non-discrimination, transparency of algorithms and the prohibition of non-ethical applications in a world where artificial intelligence is constantly gaining ground. Online harassment, hate speech and disinformation are unfortunately too often reinforced in this context, and particularly target women and girls.
On the other hand, artificial intelligence opens up new prospects for the automatisation of unskilled tasks, and may be used to create short channels between citizens and authorities. Women need to have access to digitalised jobs and must be empowered to take responsibilities – here, artificial intelligence could provide new opportunities.
The Assembly should anticipate the new challenges and possibilities offered by technology, and establish reliable tools to evaluate and measure the effect of artificial intelligence on gender equality. Appropriate indicators should be developed which place equality at their centre, in order to guarantee the rights for all in the new era opened up by artificial intelligence.