Cultural rights and the right to development are foundational norms within international human rights law, argue Alexander Kriebitz, Caitlin Corrigan, and colleagues in a new paper examining the implications of artificial intelligence for global human rights governance.
The authors warn that recent technological advances in artificial intelligence and adjacent digital frontier technologies can pose significant challenges to the protection and realization of these rights. This is due to the increasing influence of AI systems on the creation and depiction of cultural content, affecting the use and distribution of individuals’ and communities’ intellectual property, and influencing cultural participation and expression worldwide.
In addition, the growing influence of AI thus risks exacerbating preexisting economic, social, and digital divides and reinforcing inequities for marginalized communities. This dynamic challenges the existing interplay between cultural rights and the right to development, and raises questions about the integration of cultural and developmental considerations into emerging AI governance frameworks.
To address these challenges, the paper examines the impact of AI on both categories of rights. Conceptually, it analyzes the epistemic and normative limitations of AI with respect to cultural and developmental assumptions embedded in algorithmic design and deployment, but also individual and structural impacts of AI on both rights. On this basis, the paper identifies gaps and tensions in existing AI governance frameworks with respect to cultural rights and the right to development.
By situating cultural rights and the right to development within the broader landscape of AI and human rights, this paper contributes to the academic discourse on AI ethics, legal frameworks, and international human rights law. Finally, it outlines avenues for future research and policy development based on existing conversations in global AI governance.
Citation
Alexander Kriebitz, Caitlin Corrigan, Aive Pevkur, Alberto Santos Ferro, Amanda Horzyk, Dirk Brand, Dohee Kim, Dodzi Koku Hattoh, Flavia Massucci, Gilles Fayad, Kamil Strzepek, Laud Ammah, Lavina Ramkissoon, Mariette Awad, Natalia Amasiadi, Nathan C. Walker, Nicole Manger, and Sophia Devlin. “Cultural Rights and the Rights to Development in the Age of AI: Implications for Global Human Rights Governance.” arXiv (preprint), December 15, 2025. arXiv:2512.15786. https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.15786.