Human Rights Across the Generative AI Value Chain

February 25, 2025

J.Y. Hoh

Associate Director, Technology and Human Rights, BSR
J.Y. Hoh

Associate Director, Technology and Human Rights, BSR

Singapore

J.Y. works with technology companies to incorporate effective human rights practices.

Before joining BSR, J.Y. worked as an international human rights lawyer at NGOs. He was previously a Legal Officer at the Centre for Law and Democracy, an international human rights NGO promoting freedom of expression and the right to information globally. Before that, he was a Staff Lawyer at the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, Canada’s national human rights organization, where he was a recipient of the Law Foundation of Ontario’s Public Interest Articling Fellowship. He also acted as an international trade negotiator for the government of Singapore and was part of the negotiating team that closed the EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement.

J.Y. holds a BA in Law from the University of Oxford, Somerville College and a LLM (International Law) from the School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley.

Recent Insights From J.Y. Hoh

Human Rights Across the Generative AI Value Chain / February 25, 2025 / Reports

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The EU AI Act: What It Means for Your Business / April 25, 2024 / Blog

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Full Bio
Samone Nigam

Manager, Technology Sectors, BSR
Samone Nigam

Manager, Technology Sectors, BSR

San Francisco

Samone works with BSR member companies in human rights and technology, with a focus on the impact of technologies on marginalized communities.

Prior to joining BSR, Samone conducted research for a variety of agencies including the World Wide Web Foundation, UN Women, and the Office of the NYC Public Advocate. Her research takes a social justice focus informed by her experience in the nonprofit sector working directly with underrepresented populations like the LGBTQI+ community, immigrants and asylum seekers, sex workers, survivors of domestic abuse and sexual assault, and people seeking safe abortion.

Samone holds a master’s degree in human rights from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and a bachelor’s degree in community studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Recent Insights From Samone Nigam

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Full Bio
Lindsey Andersen

Associate Director, Human Rights, BSR
Lindsey Andersen

Associate Director, Human Rights, BSR

San Francisco

Lindsey works at the intersection of technology and human rights, helping both tech and non-tech companies identify and address human rights impacts associated with the development and use of technology and effectively incorporate business and human rights practices. Her focus areas include content governance, end-use risks of tech products and services, and the implications of artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies.

Prior to joining BSR, Lindsey worked with digital rights organization Access Now to drive the conversation on the human rights implications of AI. As part of this, she wrote the foundational report Human Rights in the Age of Artificial Intelligence. Lindsey previously worked at Internews, implementing a large portfolio of internet freedom projects across Latin America, which focused on equipping journalists and human rights defenders with digital security skills and defending the free and open internet. Lindsey has worked and lived across Latin America and is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese.

Lindsey holds a Master’s in Public and International Affairs from Princeton University and a BA in Political Science and International Studies from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Recent Insights From Lindsey Andersen

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Full Bio
Hannah Darnton

Director, Technology and Human Rights, BSR
Hannah Darnton

Director, Technology and Human Rights, BSR

San Francisco

Hannah works with multinational companies to align business and human rights strategies and facilitate incorporation of sustainable practices into business operations across sectors.

She focuses on the intersection of human rights and new, disruptive technology and leads the Tech Against Trafficking collaborative initiative.

Prior to joining BSR, Hannah worked with the Skoll Foundation, where she co-led the portfolio and investments team’s efforts to identify social entrepreneurs with the potential to drive large-scale social change. Her work led to over US$20 million in grants and investments between 2015 and 2018. Before Skoll, Hannah spent six years working in anti-human trafficking in West Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Bay Area. She is fluent in French.

Hannah holds a Master’s in NGOs and Development from the London School of Economics and a B.A. in Political Science and French from the University of Michigan. She currently serves on the advisory boards of Oxfam’s Women in Small Enterprise initiative and Convening17.

Recent Insights From Hannah Darnton

Human Rights Across the Generative AI Value Chain / February 25, 2025 / Reports

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The Human Rights Impacts of AI / June 4, 2024 / Audio

The EU AI Act: 11 Recommendations for Business / May 21, 2024 / Blog

The EU AI Act: What It Means for Your Business / April 25, 2024 / Blog

Full Bio

As the capabilities of generative AI (genAI) increase daily, they also pose risks to people and society. While some companies have created AI governance systems to address these risks, many of these systems do not adequately integrate human rights principles and methodologies, or do not include them at all. Additionally, genAI's "value chain" involves an interconnected web of suppliers, vendors, individual users, foundation model developers, etc., where decisions made by one actor may have consequences on the others. As a result, to properly assess the human rights impacts of genAI, its entire value chain must be considered.

To assist responsible AI practitioners and encourage greater transparency in the field of human rights and genAI, BSR conducted a human rights assessment that identifies and assesses the actual and potential human rights impacts (i.e., risks and opportunities) associated with genAI through a value chain lens. It shows how different value chain actors, listed in the diagram below, are connected to potential impacts and recommends actions they can take to address risks and provide remedy for harms.

Click on the image to view a larger size

Accompanying this assessment is a series of practitioner guides that advise those working on responsible AI on how to incorporate a human rights-based approach to their work. These guides can be used across all AI product development and deployment.