When we think of freedom or ‘liberty’ we typically think of it in certain ways: e.g., freedom to act as we please, freedom from harm or interference, freedom of thought, or freedom to be a member of a community (Susskind, 2018: 165). Philosophers have often said that freedom insofar as it is afforded to you by others is not freedom (Dworkin, 1989: Ch 1; Pettit, 2017; Skinner, 2012). Whilst AI and big data could in several ways enhance freedom, it may also limit it.

The purpose of this document is to provide an overview of how AI, big data and frontier technologies impact rights from the data protection perspective. The newly adopted definition of AI by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) states that “an AI system is a machine-based system that, for explicit or implicit objectives, infers, from the input it receives, how to generate outputs such as predictions, content, recommendations, or decisions that (can) influence physical or virtual environments.

2.1    Equality

Equality is by-and-large considered both a positive aspect of democracy, and a necessary feature for democracy. To be brief, the main benefit of equality in democracy is that it gives equal consideration to all individuals, thus each person is a free and willing self-legislator among equals.