AI and Human Rights in the Intelligent Age: GHRP in Davos

3 February 2025

At the World Economic Forum (WEF) 2025, the Geneva Human Rights Platform (GHRP) contributed to key discussions on AI, human rights, and sustainable digital governance. Invited to speak at the House of Pioneers, hosted by AEIR, Dr. Domenico Zipoli, Project Coordinator at the GHRP, presented insights on the intersection of digital human rights tracking tools, artificial intelligence (AI), and sustainable approaches to funding human rights monitoring at two panels: one on impact investment and another under the title Africa Ascends.

The theme of this year’s WEF, ‘Collaboration for the Intelligent Age,’ set the stage for discussions on how emerging technologies can enhance governance, accountability, and rights-based policymaking.

Human Rights Data as Infrastructure: A New Paradigm

A key message from GHRP’s interventions was the redefinition of data as infrastructure—a crucial foundation for transparency, accountability, and evidence-based decision-making in human rights and sustainable development. Building on the findings of GHRP’s latest publication, The Human Rights Data Revolution, Dr. Zipoli underscored the importance of interoperable, AI-enhanced digital tools in tracking the implementation of human rights commitments globally.

‘Just as roads and bridges connect economies, data connects human rights policies to real-world impact,’ noted Dr. Zipoli. ‘If we want to strengthen compliance with international human rights frameworks and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), we must treat data governance as a critical pillar of modern governance.’

Sustaining Digital Human Rights Monitoring and Ethical AI Governance

At the Impact Investment panel, Dr. Zipoli explored how digital human rights tracking tools can benefit from long-term, sustainable funding models. While impact investment and private-sector engagement can help drive innovation, he stressed that human rights monitoring must remain independent, rights-based, and free from undue influence.

‘Impact investment can help expand digital monitoring solutions beyond traditional funding models, enhancing their resilience and adaptability to global challenges. However, sustaining digital human rights monitoring requires ensuring that these investments do not undermine the independence or ethical governance of these tools,’ Dr. Zipoli emphasized.

During the Africa Ascends discussion, Dr. Zipoli highlighted how African nations are leveraging digital technologies to strengthen human rights monitoring and governance. He highlighted data governance as key to sovereignty, accountability, and policymaking, citing the African Union’s Continental AI Strategy and locally developed tools like HURIDOCS’ Uwazi and locally implemented tools like OHCHR’s National Recommendations Tracking Database (NRTD), which support civil society, NHRIs, and governments in managing human rights data.

He stressed the need for data sovereignty to ensure African-led digital governance and pointed to HRMI’s Rights Tracker and the CCPR Centre’s AI-powered pilot project in the DRC, which strengthen localized, evidence-based monitoring. ‘By investing in homegrown AI solutions,a number of African best practices are joining Latin American and Pacific states as leaders in ethical technology governance,’ he stated, while cautioning against over-reliance on external AI and emphasizing human rights-centric approaches.

Shaping the Future of AI and Human Rights

Beyond the House of Pioneers, the GHRP was represented as founding member of ITU’s AI Skills Coalition, which was officially launched at the AI House in Davos.

As momentum grows around ethical AI, digital monitoring, and sustainable funding, GHRP continues to push for transparency, accountability, and interoperability. Its newly launched publication, AI Decoded: Key Concepts and Applications of AI for Human Rights and SDG Monitoring, examines AI’s potential and challenges for human rights and SDG. GHRP will integrate these insights into ongoing collaborations with OHCHR, UNDP, ITU’s AI for Good initiative and HURIDOCS, ensuring AI-driven human rights tracking remains ethical, inclusive, and rights-based.