The Right To Think: Cognitive Liberty As A Fundamental Human Right In The Age Of Artificial Intelligence
- IJLLR Journal
- 18 hours ago
- 2 min read
Adv. (Dr.) Prashant Mali, MSc. (Computer Science) | LLM | Ph.D. (Cyber Law), CCFP | Chevening (UK) Fellow | IVLP (USA) Bombay High Court Advocate | Founder & President, Cyber Law Consulting, Chairman, Cyber & Law Foundation (Regd. since 2005)
ABSTRACT
Something uncomfortable is happening to the way we think. Philosophers, lawyers, and technologists have spent years circling around it, but the question can no longer be deferred: do human beings have a genuine right to think, freely and autonomously, without algorithmic interference? This article argues that cognitive liberty, the right to mental self-determination, must be recognised as a distinct and justiciable fundamental right, separate from the traditional right to life and existing free-speech protections. Drawing on the emerging jurisprudence of neurorights, the prohibitions embedded in the EU Artificial Intelligence Act 2024 (Regulation EU 2024/1689), Chile's pioneering constitutional neurorights amendment of 2021, and the Council of Europe's Framework Convention on AI (CETS No. 225, 2024), the article maps the current legal landscape and its critical inadequacies. Empirically, it examines documented instances of AI-driven cognitive manipulation, from Cambridge Analytica's psychometric targeting of 87 million Facebook users to modern recommender algorithms that steer adolescents toward self-harm content within minutes. The article proposes a five-pillar framework for the Right to Think (RTT): mental non- manipulation, cognitive privacy, epistemic autonomy, psychic integrity, and access to unbiased information. It further argues that without immediate constitutional enshrinement and international treaty recognition, the erosion of human cognitive sovereignty will be irreversible. This is not a futurist's warning; it is a present-tense legal crisis.
Keywords: cognitive liberty; right to think; artificial intelligence; neuro rights; mental autonomy; EU AI Act 2024; psychological manipulation; cyber law; fundamental rights; algorithmic governance.
