Rights Group Warns EU AI Rules Fail to Protect Welfare Benefits
Human Rights Watch reports that the European Union's artificial intelligence regulation lacks the safeguards necessary to prevent flawed algorithms from cutting off social safety net benefits.
Human Rights Watch warns that the European Union's proposed artificial intelligence regulation fails to protect people from flawed algorithms that deny them lifesaving social benefits. The organization explains that governments increasingly use automation to allocate social security support and prevent benefits fraud, but the current EU plan does little to prevent resulting harms.
According to the report, this trend toward algorithmic automation discriminates against vulnerable populations, compromises personal privacy, and makes it harder for people in need to qualify for government assistance. Case studies from countries like Ireland, France, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, and the United Kingdom show that these systems often target people living in poverty through abusive surveillance and profiling.
In some nations, algorithms serve as tools to justify austerity-motivated cuts to welfare budgets, such as in Austria where predictive algorithms cut off job seekers from essential support. Human Rights Watch urges the European Parliament to amend the regulation by establishing clear red lines and stronger safeguards to protect people's rights to social security and an adequate standard of living.