As Work in a Progress

A Few Remarks by [Former] Ambassador Mr. RODRIGO A. CARAZO, Member, UN Human Rights Committee in Geneva

Delivered at the LMGlobal.Org‘s panel on “Towards a Public Discussion for Shaping the Future of A.I. Regulations in the U.S. & Beyond“, which virtually took place in collaboration with Bons-Ai.Org on November 15, 2025.

[LMGlobal.Org] Thank you very much. And thank you most of all, Bircan, for your friendship, which I very much appreciate. You always manage to bring me into conversations with people of such high value and intellect as Adam Bricker and Charles Fracchia. I’ve learned so much from them just in the minutes we’ve shared today. Thank you.

You asked me to reflect on what happened in Athens two or three weeks ago, on October 22nd, at an international congress focused on “Music in the Digital Age.” I was asked specifically to speak about ethics and human rights within the world of artificial intelligence. Since then, I have been deeply involved in this topic.

That meeting in Athens brought together about 250 people in person and perhaps 800 online over three days. It was a very rich discussion about the meaning, concerns, and claims of musicians regarding the use of AI—both the advantages they experience in producing their work, and also the challenges when others reproduce or adapt their creations using AI.

We also reviewed how legislation is evolving in different parts of the world, especially in the European Union, which is by far the most advanced. We also looked at the situation in the United States, and today we heard clearly from Charles about the complexities, gaps, and difficulties in regulating AI through one single piece of legislation.

My focus, of course, is on human rights and ethics. And I must say: the ethical dimension of AI development has fallen far behind. It is not forgotten—but AI moves so fast and in so many directions that ethics simply cannot keep up. Issues like fairness, privacy, transparency, and accountability are central, especially when we think about something like autonomous weapons. Just hearing the phrase “autonomous weapons” makes me shrink. Thank you, Charles, for emphasizing the need for humans to remain in the loop. I would go further: we should work to eliminate autonomous weapons entirely. In fact, we should aim to eliminate weapons altogether. We all know too well what they are used for.
In the human rights dimension, we discussed implications for the right to life, the right to privacy, and the right to work. In the creativity space, we discussed the rights of musicians and artists—issues of originality, passion, and human expression.

Let me step away from Athens for a moment and speak to two points that touched me deeply in Adam Bricker’s remarks. He encouraged us to shift from to-do lists to to-be lists. When Bircan asked me to speak today, I told her I couldn’t prepare detailed remarks because I was too busy. To prove it, here is my to-do list for the week—pages and pages. If you look closely, somewhere on Saturday, you will even find the word “Bircan.” Shame on me. This is exactly what Adam was speaking about. My wife—who is sitting behind me—would be very happy if I tore this list up, though I’m not sure what I would do about the rest of my tasks.

Let me end with something personal. Last night, the final thing I did before sleeping was review an AI-generated document summarizing an issue I have devoted myself to for the past three and a half years: a major financial scandal in Costa Rica involving a public investment bank that caused many senior citizens to lose their life savings. I have protested, worn t-shirts, fought publicly, and spoken again and again on behalf of those affected. All my passion over three and a half years was condensed into a fifteen-page AI document. And I must admit: the facts were correct—absolutely correct. But the passion, the human pain, the moral outrage—it wasn’t there. It was a factual document. In some ways, AI might even be able to do my work better. I say that jokingly, but there is a truth there.

Thank you very much.

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