The World Economic Forum (WEF) has found that the number one perceived threat of the next two years is misinformation and disinformation, following the trend of last year’s prediction, according to the organisation’s latest report.

The WEF’s Global Risks Report 2025 tracks threats on three different temporal spectrums – the current year’s (2025) top threats, short term threats (seen in the next two years) and long term threats (seen in the next ten years).

While the top short term threat remained misinformation and disinformation, this year’s top risks and the WEF’s long term projections paint a different picture.

Immediate Threats

The WEF found that this year’s top threat is state-based armed conflict (23%), with misinformation and disinformation falling to fourth place (7%).

Extreme weather events (14%), such as the wild fires currently burning down vast sections of Southern California, and geoeconomic confrontation (8%), such as shifting sanctions, rounded out the top three of this year’s list of threats.

The Next Two Years

But interestingly, it was misinformation and disinformation that continues to be the top short-term threat viewed by the WEF.

Compared to wildfires, droughts, hurricanes, and floods, the looming threat seems vague. However, misinformation and disinformation is a contributing factor to climate change and other visceral, physical threats to our global well-being.

The WEF says that misinformation and disinformation, which it classifies as a technological threat, can manifest in multiple ways, complicating the geopolitical environment, influencing and misleading voters, and misrepresenting countries and conflicts.

Extreme weather events, state-based armed conflict, and societal polarisation rounded out the top four short term threats. Cyber espionage and warfare was the 5th biggest threat expected in 2027, the WEF found, as the role of technology in geopolitical conflicts continues to expand.

The Long View

In the long term view, which looks forward ten years, environmental issues top the list, ranging from extreme weather events, ecological collapse, changes to Earth systems, and a shortage of natural resources.

Technological issues, such as misinformation and disinformation (5th), adverse outcomes of AI technologies (6th), and cyber espionage and warfare (9th), fell in importance.

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AI As a Future Threat

However, the WEF says that “complacency” around the risks of AI should be avoided, as misuse of generative AI can spread misinformation and contribute to societal polarisation.

Further, the global conglomerate warned of other adverse affects of technology, like gene editing.

Other issues with AI noted by the forum include its tendency towards bias, which can make other technological risks such as mass surveillance and censorship even more problematic.

Indeed, AI does have its risks. New research shows that asking ChatGPT to write an 100 word email uses 519 millilitres of water – just over your average bottle. Ten to 50 queries from the chatbot uses about two litres of water, analysis says.

AI’s increasing use in data centres is set to increase their energy expenditure by 160%, compounding its environmental impact.

In a world that is preparing for natural resource shortages and seeing climate change-driven disaster after disaster, the risks of AI indeed seem like something we cannot afford to let slip under the radar.

The world has changed profoundly over the last 20 years and will continue to do so in unpredictable ways,” WEF managing director Saadia Zahidi said.

“But foresight based on informed, expert views remains critical for better planning and preparation, in both the short and long term.”