Challenges to Legal Protections: The Impact of AI on the Constitution

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in various sectors like technology, law enforcement, and courts presents unique challenges regarding accountability, the extension of “human” rights to autonomous systems, and the interplay between the Constitution and nonhuman intelligences. It is crucial for the courts to consider how traditional human rights, responsibilities, and legal frameworks apply to these machines in the context of the Constitution.

AI tools have the ability to conduct extensive searches and generate results that may be difficult to interpret or justify, even if they appear to be accurate. For instance, the use of facial recognition AI for the identification of a suspect could result in law enforcement taking action against an individual without any human oversight or examination of the decision-making process. Such technologies have led to cases of wrongful arrests, revoked warrants, and an exacerbation of racial biases in arrests. The AI itself cannot be called upon to explain its rationale for selecting a particular individual, and the law enforcement officials using the technology often struggle to provide a clear explanation of how decisions are made. This is exemplified by the widespread use of facial recognition technology by U.S. police, with Clearview AI alone being deployed for such purposes close to a million times.