I
The Right to Pause, Slow Down, and Stop
Humans must always have the collective and democratic right to pause, slow down, or stop AI development altogether.
These rights exist beyond politics or any of the lines we draw to divide ourselves. They are designed to be an expression of timeless and universal truths worth living for and defending in the AI era.
Humans must always have the collective and democratic right to pause, slow down, or stop AI development altogether.
Humans must always have the right to vote on bright lines to establish the purposes for which AI cannot be developed (e.g. biological weapons, autonomous weapons, a social credit system, AI mass surveillance, AI deepfakes, AI-slop and AI-generated art)
AI must exist only to enhance human autonomy and freedom, and must never undermine human dignity. It should never be used to manipulate human behavior, but instead should enhance people's ability to decide for themselves and author their own stories.
AI is on pace to rapidly cause unprecedented levels of job loss, and workers who are replaced by AI should have access to meaningful support, including special compensation ("AI Replacement Income" or AIRI) for being replaced that reflects the challenge of transition to new opportunities and the availability of those opportunities. In other words, replaced workers should be compensated and supported (including fully if necessary) in proportion to the degree AI shrinks the overall job market and their ability to access a dramatically altered job market.
AI's benefits must be accessible to all people, regardless of economic status. Public AI infrastructure must be developed to ensure that people are not left behind in accessing AI-powered services and opportunities.
AI systems and development must be governed collectively, in that the priorities must be specially established by the people collectively and should not be guided merely by elite, special interests. AI should be subject to a special regulatory regime, with checks and balances and power over the future of AI distributed among various stakeholders in society.
AI products must be clearly marked with transparent indicators that give every person the ability to know when they are interacting with AI, how it creates its content, and what data it uses. The creators of AI systems and products must be able provide full, transparent, and overarching explanations of their creations.
AI systems must also promote free speech and expression, protecting human diversity of opinion and ensuring non-discrimination against belief systems as established in the US Constitution and more broadly in enlightenment principles.
AI systems must not perpetuate or amplify discrimination based on race, gender, age, disability, religion, belief-systems, sexual orientation, or any other protected characteristic and must provide equal protection to all people regardless of any characteristic. Regular audits must ensure these protections are adequately in place.
AI systems may only collect data in line with robust, modern privacy standards, including only collecting from people with their informed consent. Data must always be protected from unauthorized access and kept fully private. Individuals must always have the right to access, correct, delete, and alter permissions on what data they share with AI.
AI systems must be specially regulated by a collective of elected experts and policymakers to ensure they do not cause harm to individuals or society. Mechanisms should be in place to enforce economic accountability and, in the cases of depraved heart or malice, criminal accountability, especially with those that are developing frontier AI products.
Together we can ensure these rights will define an Era of Fairness as we move forward. Their spirit will guide our efforts to take the power back from elites and billionaires, including their power over modern technology and AI, and to use everything at our disposal to bring about an era of human prosperity and flourishing like we've never seen.
This AI Bill of Rights is meant to be a product of our collective will and insight. Stay tuned, because we are just getting started and will have ways you can take action soon.