Social AI Risks

Classification

Domain

6. Socioeconomic & Environmental

Subdomain

6.2 Increased inequality and decline in employment quality

Causal entity

Human

Intent

Other

Timing

Post-deployment

Subdomain definition: Widespread use of AI increasing social and economic inequalities, such as by automating jobs, reducing the quality of employment, or producing exploitative dependencies between workers and their employers.

Real-world incidents in this subdomain

• 21 Oct 2024Polish Radio Station Replaces Human Hosts with AI-Generated Presenters to Simulate Interviewing Deceased Poet Wisława Szymborska
• 5 Jan 2023Fast Food Chains' AI Chatbots Failed to Assist Job Applicants with Scheduling Interviews
• 1 Nov 2021Kenyan Data Annotators Allegedly Exposed to Graphic Content for OpenAI's AI
• 1 Sep 2016RealPage Algorithm Allegedly Inflates Rents and Reduces Competition in Housing Market
• 25 Sep 2015Amazon Flex Drivers Allegedly Fired via Automated Employee Evaluations
• 14 Aug 2014Kronos Scheduling Algorithm Allegedly Caused Financial Issues for Starbucks Employees

How other frameworks describe this risk

• Job loss/losses

  A Collaborative, Human-Centred Taxonomy of AI, Algorithmic, and Automation Harms (Abercrombie2024)

• Societal destabilisation

  A Collaborative, Human-Centred Taxonomy of AI, Algorithmic, and Automation Harms (Abercrombie2024)

• Societal inequality

  A Collaborative, Human-Centred Taxonomy of AI, Algorithmic, and Automation Harms (Abercrombie2024)

• Labour exploitation

  A Collaborative, Human-Centred Taxonomy of AI, Algorithmic, and Automation Harms (Abercrombie2024)

• Political instability

  A Collaborative, Human-Centred Taxonomy of AI, Algorithmic, and Automation Harms (Abercrombie2024)

• Increased income disparity

  The Rise of Artificial Intelligence - Future Outlooks and Emerging Risks (Allianz2018)

• Economic

  The Rise of Artificial Intelligence - Future Outlooks and Emerging Risks (Allianz2018)

• Effects on the Workforce

  Foundational Challenges in Assuring Alignment and Safety of Large Language Models (Anwar2024)

Other entries from Wirtz2022

• Technological, Data and Analytical AI Risks Risk Category
• Loss of control of autonomous systems and unforeseen behaviour due to lack of transparency and self-programming/ reprogramming Risk Sub-Category · 7.1
• Programming error Risk Sub-Category · 7.0
• Lack of data, poor data quality, and biases in training data Risk Sub-Category · 1.1
• Vulnerability of AI systems to attacks and misuse Risk Sub-Category · 2.2
• Lack of AI experts with comprehensive AI knowledge Risk Sub-Category · 6.5
• Immaturity of AI technology can cause incorrect decisions Risk Sub-Category · 7.3
• High investment costs of AI hinder integration Risk Sub-Category · 6.1
• Informational and Communicational AI Risks Risk Category · 4.1
• Manipulation and control of information provision (e.g., personalised adds, filtered news) Risk Sub-Category · 4.1
• Disinformation and computational propaganda Risk Sub-Category · 4.1
• Censorship of opinions expressed in the Internet restricts freedom of expression Risk Sub-Category · 5.2