WEF says world faces 'gloomy outlook' as AI, climate threats rise

(Context, 12 Jan 2024) A toxic mix of AI-driven disinformation, war and environmental risks is a threat to elections and policymaking, WEF survey shows.

Progress on global development could come to a halt due to surging conflicts, accelerating climate change impacts and increasingly deep divisions over politics, a survey of risk experts, policymakers and business leaders showed on Wednesday.

They also warned that the spread of misinformation and disinformation, driven in part by new artificial intelligence (AI) tools, is a key risk to major elections in 2024 that could potentially undermine the legitimacy of new governments.

"(It) is like looking down in a big bowl of spaghetti - everything is interconnected," said Carolina Klint, of risk strategy group Marsh McLennan, which partnered with the World Economic Forum (WEF) on its annual risk ranking.

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Context, 12 Jan 2024: WEF says world faces 'gloomy outlook' as AI, climate threats rise