Have AI Risks Increased in the Past Two Years? The Evidence Says Yes
Have AI Risks Increased in the Past Two Years? The Evidence Says Yes Overall Key Points AI risks have increased because model capabilities, autonomy, and deployment have all expanded rapidly. Cyber misuse, fraud, surveillance, manipulation, and privacy risks are becoming more practical rather than merely theoretical. AI agents create a new category of risk because systems can increasingly take actions rather than simply generate information. Frontier AI companies themselves have strengthened safety frameworks as capabilities have advanced. Catastrophic loss-of-control risks remain uncertain, but near-term risks are already observable. Two years ago, most public discussions about artificial intelligence focused on chatbots generating essays, images, and occasionally absurd factual mistakes. That world already feels dated. Modern AI systems increasingly write software, operate external tools, perform multi-step research, interact with websites, analyze scientific...