The Department of Artificial Intelligence at the University of Malta's Faculty of ICT is proud to announce its collaboration with the in a groundbreaking initiative that leverages artificial intelligence to promote and protect human rights in Malta. This event held in the beginning of May 2025 represents a significant milestone in the application of AI for social good, demonstrating how technology can support legal advocacy, refugee protection, and human dignity.
The collaboration focused on ethically employing Generative AI tools to assist Aditus and other numerous NGOs who attended in analysing large volumes of legal documents, generating reports, and identifying trends in asylum and migration cases. These tools help human rights lawyers and researchers to better understand systemic issues, respond more quickly to legal developments, and produce timely, evidence-based reports.
The AI team at the University of Malta played a central role in adapting state-of-the-art AI models to meet the specific needs of the human rights domain. The work included employing large language models to handle legal and policy-related documents, building ethical safeguards into AI tools, and ensuring that AI-supported outputs respect the sensitivity and privacy of vulnerable individuals.
"This collaboration reflects our department鈥檚 commitment to deploying responsible AI in areas that matter most鈥攍ike justice, equity, and human rights," said Prof. Montebello, Head of the Department of AI. "We are proud to support Aditus in their mission to uphold human dignity, and this is a powerful example of academia and civil society working together for public interest technology."
The tools shared with Aditus are now being integrated into the Foundation鈥檚 day-to-day legal work, enhancing their capacity to prepare advocacy reports, improve case documentation, and navigate complex EU and national asylum frameworks. The training also lays the groundwork for future research into how AI can support other civil society organisations in Malta.
This partnership aligns with the University鈥檚 strategic vision to be a hub of innovation that bridges research excellence with real-world impact, especially in the ethical and inclusive use of emerging technologies.
