GENEVA, January 11. /TASS/. Disinformation has been named the most severe global risk for the next two years, World Economic Forum (WEF) experts said in the Global Risks Report 2024.

"Disinformation has risen rapidly in rankings to first place for the two-year time frame, and the risk is likely to become more acute as elections in several economies take place this year," the report said.

"No longer requiring a niche skill set, easy-to-use interfaces to large-scale artificial intelligence (AI) models have already enabled an explosion in falsified information and so-called 'synthetic' content, from sophisticated voice cloning to counterfeit websites. To combat growing risks, governments are beginning to roll out new and evolving regulations to target both hosts and creators of online disinformation and illegal content. Nascent regulation of generative AI will likely complement these efforts. <…> Generally, however, the speed and effectiveness of regulation is unlikely to match the pace of development," according to the report.

Disinformation spread may radically disrupt electoral processes in several economies over the next two years, the WEF experts said. A growing distrust of information, as well as media and governments as sources, will "deepen polarized views - a vicious cycle that could trigger civil unrest and possibly confrontation," the report said.

Extreme weather events were ranked second by severity for the next two years, followed by societal polarization, cyber insecurity, as well as interstate armed conflicts. Over a ten-year period, experts polled by the WEF regarded extreme weather events, critical change to Earth systems, as well as biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse, as the most severe global risks.

The Global Risks Perception Survey (GRPS) has underpinned the Global Risks Report for nearly two decades. This year’s GRPS has brought together leading insights on the evolving global risks landscape from 1,490 experts across academia, business, government, the international community and civil society. Responses for the GRPS 2023-2024 were collected from September 4 to October 9, 2023.