MIT classifies 700 risks linked to AI, first database

(ANSA) - ROME, AUG 28 - More than 700 risks linked to Artificial Intelligence (AI) have been classified by a group of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
    The database, the AI Risk Repository, supplies a panorama, accessible to the public and open to updates, of the risks deriving from the development and use of the new technology because, the experts observe, "the lack of a shared understanding of the risks of AI may hamper our capacity to discuss, research and react in an exhaustive way".
    This is the first attempt to gather and analyse the risks linked to AI by extrapolating them from reports, daily newspapers and other documents and turning the database into a common frame of reference. The risks have thus been classified in relation to their cause, intentionality and the moment they manifest.
    According to the researchers, the risks are attributable in most cases (51%) to AI systems rather than to a decision or action of human beings (34%).
    Further, it is more likely that the risks manifest once the AI has been trained and used (65%) rather than during its development (10%).
    The risks identified have been put into seven different categories, with greater concerns regarding security, socio-economic and environmental damage, discrimination and toxicity. Other risks cited in MIT's database pertain to privacy and security; malign actors and improper use; human-machine interaction, and disinformation. (ANSA).