In the latest “Global Risks Report 2024” by the World Economic Forum (WEF), concerns about the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on election outcomes have taken the top spot among the biggest risks for the year. The report, co-produced with consultancy Marsh McLennan and Zurich Insurance Group, surveyed over 1,400 global risk experts and leaders. AI-derived misinformation and its potential to fuel societal polarization ranked higher than climate change, war, and economic weakness in the list of top 10 risks for the next two years.
Carolina Klint, Chief Commercial Officer for Europe at Marsh McLennan, highlighted the unprecedented ability of AI to influence large populations of voters, emphasizing the importance of monitoring its implications. Looking ahead, the report suggests a shift in risks over the next decade towards extreme weather conditions and significant changes in the political world order. Two-thirds of respondents anticipate the emergence of a new multipolar or fragmented world.
The report emphasizes that combined risks are pushing the world’s adaptive capacity to its limits and calls for global leaders to focus on cooperation and establishing guardrails against emerging disruptive risks. The identified risks for the next two years include misinformation and disinformation, extreme weather events, societal polarization, cyber insecurity, and interstate armed conflict.
Over the next decade, the most likely risks involve extreme weather events, critical changes to earth systems, biodiversity loss, natural resource shortages, and misinformation and disinformation. AI technologies’ adverse outcomes are also noted as a longer-term concern.
Carolina Klint, in the report, underscores the radical disruption that AI breakthroughs may bring to organizational risk outlooks, particularly in dealing with threats related to misinformation, disintermediation, and strategic miscalculation. The report stresses the need for a relentless focus to build resilience at various levels and advocates for greater cooperation between the public and private sectors to navigate the evolving risk landscape.
This report coincides with the upcoming annual summit in Davos, Switzerland, where global leaders will discuss various issues, including ongoing conflicts, the economy, and technology, under the theme “Rebuilding Trust.” Additionally, the world is entering a historic year of elections, with Taiwan starting the elections this weekend, followed by elections in the U.S., India, Russia, South Africa, and Mexico. Another global risks report by Eurasia Group also highlights the upcoming U.S. election as a top risk for the year, with “ungoverned AI” ranking among the top five concerns.
