A Coalition With Unlikely Allies
A broad group of organisations — including faith groups, labour unions, conservative media voices, and progressive advocacy groups — has come together to issue a declaration they call the “Pro-Human Principles.” The statement, finalised at a meeting in New Orleans, lays out 33 principles organised around five themes: keeping humans in charge, avoiding concentration of power, protecting the human experience, human agency and liberty, and holding AI companies accountable.
What makes this declaration worth paying attention to is the breadth of support. Organizations like the AFL-CIO Tech Institute, the American Federation of Teachers, SAG-AFTRA, and the Congress of Christian Leaders all signed on. Individual endorsers include former National Security Advisor Susan Rice, consumer advocate Ralph Nader, Signal Foundation president Meredith Whittaker, and AI researchers Yoshua Bengio and Stuart Russell. That’s an unusual mix by any standard.
For Irish small business owners, this matters because it signals that the conversation about AI regulation is moving beyond tech insiders. When unions, faith groups, and civil society organisations start coordinating on AI principles, the pressure for concrete regulation grows.
What the Principles Actually Say
The five overarching themes cover the ground you’d expect, but some specific principles stand out. The declaration calls for no AI “personhood” — meaning AI systems should never be granted legal rights as individuals. It demands mandatory “bot-or-not” labelling, so people know when they are interacting with an AI rather than a human. And it proposes criminal liability for AI executives whose products cause certain types of serious harm.
Polling conducted alongside the declaration found that 83 percent of Americans agreed with the principle that “humanity must remain in control of AI.” 77 percent agreed that companies should not be allowed to exploit children through AI interactions that create emotional attachment.
These numbers are striking because they cross political lines. AI is one of the rare issues where conservatives and progressives find common ground. The same is true in Ireland. While our political landscape is different, the concern about losing human control over AI is universal.
What This Means for Irish Businesses
Ireland is the European headquarters for many of the world’s largest tech companies. That means Irish businesses — from small shops in Galway to professional services firms in Dublin — are often early adopters of AI tools. But it also means we are in the crosshairs when regulators start writing rules.
The EU’s AI Act is already making its way through the regulatory machinery. These new Pro-Human Principles from the US add weight to the argument that regulation needs to be human-centred. For an Irish business owner, the practical takeaway is straightforward: start thinking now about how your use of AI affects your customers, your staff, and your reputation.
If you are using a chatbot on your website, ask yourself whether customers know they are talking to AI. If you are using AI to screen job applications, ask whether you are keeping a human in the decision loop. If you are using AI-generated content for marketing, ask whether it is clearly labelled.
Looking Ahead
The Pro-Human Principles are not law. They are a statement of intent from a broad coalition that wants to shape how AI develops. But they are a strong signal about where public sentiment is heading. In Ireland, where trust in institutions is relatively high and people value human connection in business, these principles are likely to resonate.
The best thing a small business can do is stay informed and stay intentional. AI is not going away, but how we use it is still being decided. The businesses that think carefully about that now will be the ones that thrive.