Intro: A new MIT-led study warns that several AI risks could become catastrophic by 2030, with dangerous capabilities, cyberattacks, and misinformation among the most urgent concerns.
TheCyberStreet Blog
A global survey of 272 AI experts has put a sharper spotlight on the risks that matter most as artificial intelligence (AI) moves deeper into business, government, and public life.
The MIT FutureTech and University of Queensland study assessed 24 AI-related risk domains and asked experts to judge both the likelihood and severity of harm between 2025 and 2030.
The findings suggest the industry’s biggest threats are not abstract.
Experts ranked AI possessing dangerous capabilities as the most severe risk, followed by competitive dynamics, weapons and cyberattacks, power centralization, and AI spreading false or misleading information.
The paper also said 18 of the 24 risks had at least a 10% probability of catastrophic outcomes under a business-as-usual scenario.
For cybersecurity leaders, one of the most important findings is the concern around weapons and cyberattacks.
The study warns that AI can help adversaries automate intrusion, scale phishing, improve malware development, and accelerate offensive operations in ways that are harder to detect and contain. That makes AI both a defensive tool and a possible force multiplier for attackers.
The report also highlights governance failures.
Experts said the people most exposed to harm are often not the ones responsible for fixing the problem. AI users and the general public were judged the most vulnerable, while the greatest responsibility for addressing the risks was assigned to general-purpose AI developers, governments, regulators, and standards bodies.
Another major concern is misinformation. AI-generated false or misleading content can shape beliefs, distort decision-making, and erode trust in institutions, media, and digital communication channels. In parallel, experts warned that power centralization could concentrate AI benefits in too few hands, deepening inequality and reducing accountability.
