LONDON — False and misleading information supercharged with cutting-edge artificial intelligence that threatens to erode democracy and polarize society is the top immediate risk to the global economy, the World Economic Forum said in a report Wednesday.
In its latest Global Risks Report, the organization also said an array of environmental risks pose the biggest threats in the longer term. The report, based on a survey of nearly 1,500 experts, industry leaders, and policymakers, was released ahead of the annual elite gathering of CEOs and world leaders in the Swiss ski resort town of Davos.
According to the report, misinformation and disinformation, powered by AI, are the most severe risks over the next two years. The rapid advances in technology are creating new problems or exacerbating existing ones. The authors expressed concern that the proliferation of generative AI chatbots, such as ChatGPT, means that creating sophisticated synthetic content to manipulate groups of people will no longer be limited to those with specialized skills.
AI-powered misinformation and disinformation is emerging as a major risk, especially as countries like the United States, Britain, Indonesia, India, Mexico, and Pakistan head to the polls in the coming year. The report highlights the potential for AI to be harnessed in creating deepfakes and manipulating massive groups, leading to widespread misinformation. Carolina Klint, a risk management leader at Marsh, one of the report’s co-authors, stated that this could result in increased societal polarization and erode democratic processes as it becomes more challenging to verify facts.
The rise of AI also brings other significant risks. It can empower malicious actors by automating cyberattacks, making it easier to carry out phishing attempts or create advanced malware. Klint emphasized that even data scraped from the internet to train AI systems could be poisoned, embedding biases into the models that are difficult to reverse.
During the upcoming Davos meetings, AI is expected to be a hot topic. Tech company leaders and influential figures in the AI industry, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, and Meta’s chief AI scientist, Yann LeCun, are among those expected to attend.
Beyond AI, the Global Risks Report also highlighted climate change as a pressing concern. Extreme weather events were ranked as the second-most-pressing short-term risk after misinformation and disinformation. In the long term, extreme weather topped the list, followed by critical changes to Earth systems, biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse, and natural resource shortages. Experts warned that failure to address these risks in the next decade could lead to irreversible climate change.
As the World Economic Forum urges action to address these risks, the report serves as a reminder of the growing challenges posed by AI-powered misinformation and climate change. Efforts to combat the spread of false information and mitigate the impact of extreme weather are crucial to safeguarding democracy, societies, and economies worldwide.
Disclaimer: This article is generated by an AI program and has not been edited by a human editor.
