New publication on freedom of thought launched as challenges multiply in the age of AI

As artificial intelligence (AI) reshapes daily life, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) is calling for renewed attention to a fundamental yet often overlooked right: freedom of thought.

ODIHR launched its new policy brief Think Again: Freedom of Thought in the Age of AI at a side event of the Warsaw Human Dimension Conference. The publication explores how AI can affect people’s ability to think freely, form independent opinions, and make autonomous choices.  

“Freedom of thought is not only a fundamental, but also a foundational freedom, acting as the matrix of most freedoms. Long taken for granted as an almost unassailable right, rapid advances in AI pose new and serious challenges to freedom of thought. States have a duty to protect this right, including through human rights-based rules for AI development, deployment and use. I encourage states to work with ODIHR to this end,” said Ahmed Shaheed, Professor at the University of Essex and Former UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief.

The event discussed the major implications of AI for individual autonomy, social life and democracy, highlighting ODIHR’s recommendations to assist states in fulfilling their obligation to uphold this freedom, also in the digital age.

Speakers underlined that freedom of thought underpins human dignity and resilient democratic societies. They explained that protecting freedom of thought also means protection from coercion, as well as from punishment for one’s thoughts, and from manipulation of the mind. States have a duty to safeguard this right and ensure an environment where independent thinking can flourish.