27 January 2025
Artificial intelligence (AI) is ubiquitous in society today. It is said to hold the promise of revolutionising scientific discovery, addressing climate change, and improving public services and human welfare in general. However, harms associated with AI have also been highlighted – including its impacts on the right to privacy, non-discrimination, data protection, freedom of expression and human dignity.
In transitional justice settings, societies are confronted with a legacy of serious human rights violations and abuses, and are now also increasingly confronted with the impact of new AI technologies.
Building on its foundational work in this field, Impunity Watch (IW) has begun exploring the intersection of AI and TJ. Together with Dr Sue Anne Teo, a researcher on the Future of Human Rights project at the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, we are pleased to present this overview report which maps and frames the connections between AI and transitional justice. The report draws insights from an expert workshop conducted in partnership with the AI Futures Lab at TU-Delft.
The report identifies the potential harms and emerging concerns in relation to how AI can impact the field of transitional justice and its victim-centred approach. At the same time, it examines AI’s positive role in transitional justice practices such as documentation and archiving as a tool for victim agency and empowerment in general. Adopting an overarching victim-centred approach, in the context of AI, this entails ensuring the ideas, actions and implementation of AI in the transitional justice setting are guided and informed by the needs, choices and meaningful participation of victims.
This report proposes thinking about AI and transitional justice from three different facets – focusing on People, Practice and Policy. This means putting people (i.e. victims) at the centre, considering the benefits and risks of AI in practical transitional justice contexts and, finally, policy recommendations in this area. There is also an executive summary of the seven key recommendations.
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