In its recent report, the UN Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development (EMRTD) analysed the implications of artificial intelligence (AI) on cultural rights and the right to development, with particular attention to cultural participation, cultural diversity, creative production, Indigenous peoples and traditional knowledge systems.
In preparation of the 63rd session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC63) happening between 7 September and 9 October 2026 in Geneva, the publication and presentation of the study provides an important opportunity to assess how international human rights standards are responding to the rapid development and deployment of AI, and whether they adequately account for the cultural and structural inequalities embedded in these technologies.
The Association for Progressive Communications (APC) and Derechos Digitales consider the study an important contribution to ongoing efforts to centre human rights, community participation and cultural self-determination in AI governance. Our analysis of the report focuses on the following areas:
- Recognition of cultural rights, cultural self-determination and the right to development as interconnected frameworks for understanding and governing AI.
- Attention to Indigenous peoples, traditional knowledge, cultural diversity and the rights of communities whose culture and cultural knowledge are increasingly incorporated into AI systems, often without consent.
- Recognition of the implications of AI on communities, creative industries, cultural workers and authors’ moral and material interests.
- The need for participatory, accountable and rights-based approaches to AI governance, including stronger safeguards for communities, and specific attention to the role of private actors.
Read the full submission here.