The World Economic Forum (WEF) has listed AI-generated misinformation/disinformation and cyberattacks as top concerns for countries this year.
The Forum’s Global Risks Report 2024 made this clear. According to WEF, “global risk” is the likelihood of an incident or circumstance that would significantly damage global GDP, population, or natural resources.
AI technology makes misinformation easy to manufacture and propagate, according to the Global Risks Perception Survey (GRPS) research.
After extreme weather, 53% of respondents ranked AI misinformation as the most prominent global risk in 2024, ranking second out of 10.
Cyberattacks ranked 5th on the 2024 global risk list, with 39% thinking they were significant. WEF noted that cyberattacks remain a top-three issue for government and private-sector respondents.
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Threat of AI models
The WEF pointed out that because AI models have made it more accessible, spreading false information and misinformation no longer requires talent or experience.
“No longer requiring a niche set of skills, easy-to-use interfaces to large-scale artificial intelligence (AI) models have already led to a huge rise in fake news and so-called “synthetic” content, such as voice cloning and fake websites,” the report said.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) said governments are implementing new and changing rules to go after hosts and creators of illegal and misleading material online.
The emergence of generative AI regulation may support these efforts. China’s AI-generated content watermarking rules may assist in uncovering accidental disinformation from AI-hallucinated content.
It said, “Generally, the speed and effectiveness of regulation is unlikely to match the pace of development.”
Digital gap
WEF also notes that technological improvements and geopolitical factors will likely create new winners and losers in advanced and developing countries if economic incentives and geopolitical imperatives drive AI and other frontier technology development rather than a public interest.
The digital gap between high- and low-income countries will significantly divide benefits and hazards.
WEF warned that vulnerable nations would be digitally separated from supercharged AI advancements that affect economic productivity, finance, climate, education, healthcare, and job creation.