THREATS OF NEW AND EXISTING TECHNOLOGIES The emergence of generative AI tools has made headlines in recent months, highlighting the threats that they and existing technologies pose to human rights, particularly the rights of those most marginalized in society. States have not taken sufficient steps to rein in the global trade in spyware or the surveillance-based business model of the biggest technology companies, known as Big Tech. RISKS OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE The launch in 2023 of ChatGPT-4, a tool which can synthesize and generate text, has drawn attention to how generative AI will transform people’s working lives, their access to government services and their experience of internet platforms more generally. Like any new technology, generative AI may create opportunities but, without adequate and effective regulation, may also exacerbate risks to human rights in areas such as access to welfare, education and employment, labour rights, privacy and online safety. Risks include the reinforcement of racial and other inequalities, increased surveillance and the amplification of hate content online.16 Existing AI systems, among other technologies, have already amplified inequality and hurt marginalized communities in areas such as access to state services, policing, security and migration.17 In Serbia, the new semi-automated social welfare system, funded by the World Bank, resulted in possibly thousands of people losing access to vital social assistance and disproportionally affected Roma and people with disabilities. Israel’s use of facial recognition technology in the Occupied Palestinian Territories has reinforced restrictions on freedom of movement and helped maintain the system of apartheid. The New York Police Department revealed in 2023 how it used the technology to subject Black Lives Matter protests in the city to surveillance, but pressure mounted on the New York City Council to ban it. Meanwhile, venture capital firms investing in new technologies have often failed in their responsibility to respect human rights.18 GLOBAL SPYWARE TRADE States have failed to rein in the global trade in spyware. Research by Amnesty International in 2023 helped uncover the use of Pegasus spyware against journalists and civil society in Armenia, the Dominican Republic, India and Serbia. A major investigation on the Predator Files by the European Investigative Collaborations, in partnership with Amnesty International, uncovered how “EU-based and regulated” spyware has been freely sold to states all over the world.19 In the aftermath of these revelations, the European Parliament adopted a resolution in November 2023 criticizing the lack of action to curb abuses by the spyware industry. This built on other signs that some policymakers are beginning to act, including a statement from 11 states in March 2023 that recognized the threats spyware presents to human rights. ABUSES BY BIG TECH The harms of Big Tech’s surveillance-based business model were laid bare again in 2023, not only in the context of armed conflict, but also in how they undermine the rights of children and other young people. TikTok’s content recommender system and invasive data collection practices pose a danger to young users of the platform by amplifying depressive and suicidal content that carry the risk of worsening existing mental health challenges.20 There has also been an alarming surge in incitement against LGBTI people on X (formerly Twitter).21 The proliferation of political mis- and disinformation is likely to increase, an especially grave risk given the large number of elections taking place in 2024. Repressive political forces in many parts of the world have weaponized social media to attack minorities and pit communities against one another in an effort to bolster their chances of electoral success. Such efforts are 22 The State of the World’s Human Rights