Inflation, trade wars, social unrest, threat of nuclear war
The world has not experienced so many global risks in decades
On January 16, the WEF will take place in Davos GR for the 52nd time. On Wednesday, those responsible will publish a report with the global risks. There are more than there have been in decades.
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The World Economic Forum (WEF) is entering its 52nd round.
Inflation, cyber attacks and climate change and war are the global risks of the world. This shows the survey of the World Economic Forum (WEF). In its report on global risks 2023 on Wednesday, the WEF named inflation, trade wars, social unrest, geoeconomic confrontations and the risk of nuclear war. The world has not seen so many risks in decades.
Add to that low economic growth, indebtedness, a move away from globalization, the virtually limitless development of potentially dangerous technologies, and the consequences of climate change.
The risk ranking
As every year, the WEF asked more than 1,200 experts and leaders from politics and business to rank what they considered to be the greatest risks. Many of them will take part in the traditional annual meeting of the WEF in Davos from January 16th. According to its statutes, the WEF, based in Cologny near Geneva, wants to “improve the state of the world”.
Over the next two years, respondents see rising cost of living as the most pressing concern, followed by extreme weather events, wars and conflicts, failure to mitigate climate change, and the division of society.
In the long term, over ten years, the lack of climate protection and adaptation measures, storm disasters and the collapse of ecosystems are in the top four places. This is followed by the risk of involuntary migration. The risk of terrorist attacks is in 32nd place. Respondents consider the risk of cyber attacks to be high in both the short and long term (8th place).
Artificial intelligence can mitigate or increase risks
“Together, these risks make for a unique, uncertain and turbulent decade,” says the report. Advances in the application of artificial intelligence and high-performance computers (quantum computing) could help to reduce some risks, for example in the health sector. But for many developments there is no legal framework for the application. They could themselves become risks, for example in military operations.
The report does not mention this, but an example would be so-called killer robots: machines that, once programmed, use artificial intelligence to select and shoot at war targets without human intervention. For years, countries like the US, Russia and others working on such developments have prevented international guidelines from using such technologies. (SDA/what)