World Economic Forum Calls AI Biggest Threat to Democracies
AI-derived misinformation and disinformation are the greatest risk to democratic countries (where free elections are held)
Cmdr. (res.) Eyal Pinko
| 16/01/2024
Illustration by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhot via Reuters Connect
In a report published by the World Economic Forum (WEF), it was stated that the most significant global threat in the near future is the influence of artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities on election systems.
In 2024, according to the forum, about half of the adult population of the world will vote at polling stations. In May, India will hold parliamentary elections, elections in which the potential voters number over 600 million.
This year, elections are also expected in Taiwan, Russia, the United States, South Africa, Mexico, and other African countries.
The forum report, written by over 1400 experts in global risk management, states that misinformation and deliberate deception originating from AI is the greatest risk to countries. They place this risk ahead of those originating from climate change, wars, and other economic weaknesses.
The implications of the use of AI have the potential to create social polarization and significant changes in large populations.
In the last decade, we have seen election processes in various countries affected by online influence operations. In these operations, fictitious characters (avatars and bots), websites, and other means are used to influence public consciousness, mislead election results, and even influence and sabotage them directly.
The increasing use of AI will affect not only countries and electoral processes, but also companies and organizations; this malicious AI is expected to cause decision-makers to take wrong actions at tactical and strategic levels.
Looking ahead, other than AI, the balance of risks for the next decade shifts towards extreme weather conditions and critical changes within the political world order. Two-thirds of those surveyed predicted that a new multipolar or fragmented world would take shape.
As noted by the authors, the ten biggest risks for the years 2024-2025 are misinformation and deliberate deception, unusual weather conditions, social polarization, and instability in the cyber dimension. Also included were wars between countries, lack of economic opportunities, inflation, involuntary immigration, economic troubles, and air pollution.
These risks were characterized in the order of possibility and estimated that in the coming decade, the main risks will be severe weather conditions, critical changes in the Earth's systems, a loss of biodiversity, the collapse of the ecosystem, and a lack of natural resources. Information mistakes and deliberate deception were presented at a lower risk.
The wars between Ukraine and Russia and between Israel and Hamas were also a component of the risk assessment for the next two years.
The report recommended that companies negotiate and examine their supply chains made more complex by geopolitics, climate change, and cyber threats from an increasing number of malicious actors. Focusing on a permanent and continuous process will be required to achieve resilience at the organizational, state, and international levels - and greater cooperation between the public and private sectors will be necessary to successfully navigate the rapidly evolving risk landscape.
The authors of the report called on world leaders to act jointly and build collaborations to deal with these risks.
The report was published as world leaders are expected to meet next week in Davos, Switzerland, for the annual WEF summit, where they will discuss global issues, including the ongoing conflicts in Europe and the Middle East, the economy and technology, under the heading of "rebuilding trust."
AI-derived misinformation and disinformation are the greatest risk to democratic countries (where free elections are held)
Illustration by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhot via Reuters Connect
In a report published by the World Economic Forum (WEF), it was stated that the most significant global threat in the near future is the influence of artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities on election systems.
In 2024, according to the forum, about half of the adult population of the world will vote at polling stations. In May, India will hold parliamentary elections, elections in which the potential voters number over 600 million.
This year, elections are also expected in Taiwan, Russia, the United States, South Africa, Mexico, and other African countries.
The forum report, written by over 1400 experts in global risk management, states that misinformation and deliberate deception originating from AI is the greatest risk to countries. They place this risk ahead of those originating from climate change, wars, and other economic weaknesses.
The implications of the use of AI have the potential to create social polarization and significant changes in large populations.
In the last decade, we have seen election processes in various countries affected by online influence operations. In these operations, fictitious characters (avatars and bots), websites, and other means are used to influence public consciousness, mislead election results, and even influence and sabotage them directly.
The increasing use of AI will affect not only countries and electoral processes, but also companies and organizations; this malicious AI is expected to cause decision-makers to take wrong actions at tactical and strategic levels.
Looking ahead, other than AI, the balance of risks for the next decade shifts towards extreme weather conditions and critical changes within the political world order. Two-thirds of those surveyed predicted that a new multipolar or fragmented world would take shape.
As noted by the authors, the ten biggest risks for the years 2024-2025 are misinformation and deliberate deception, unusual weather conditions, social polarization, and instability in the cyber dimension. Also included were wars between countries, lack of economic opportunities, inflation, involuntary immigration, economic troubles, and air pollution.
These risks were characterized in the order of possibility and estimated that in the coming decade, the main risks will be severe weather conditions, critical changes in the Earth's systems, a loss of biodiversity, the collapse of the ecosystem, and a lack of natural resources. Information mistakes and deliberate deception were presented at a lower risk.
The wars between Ukraine and Russia and between Israel and Hamas were also a component of the risk assessment for the next two years.
The report recommended that companies negotiate and examine their supply chains made more complex by geopolitics, climate change, and cyber threats from an increasing number of malicious actors. Focusing on a permanent and continuous process will be required to achieve resilience at the organizational, state, and international levels - and greater cooperation between the public and private sectors will be necessary to successfully navigate the rapidly evolving risk landscape.
The authors of the report called on world leaders to act jointly and build collaborations to deal with these risks.
The report was published as world leaders are expected to meet next week in Davos, Switzerland, for the annual WEF summit, where they will discuss global issues, including the ongoing conflicts in Europe and the Middle East, the economy and technology, under the heading of "rebuilding trust."
