MIT AI Risk Repository
Browse AI risks
26 risk entries extracted from 74 frameworks, coded by domain, subdomain, causal entity, intent and timing. Filter, then export the current selection with its licence and citation attached.
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"Like virtual applications of AI, EAI can display bias towards and dis- criminate against users. When EAI systems are placed in positions of power, their biases could have significant impacts on fairness in everyday interactions and on general social dynamics [105, 106]."
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"EAI systems interact with huge amounts of data, creating significant privacy concerns. These systems are often trained on vast corpora and process a variety of data modalities— spanning visual, auditory, and tactile information—during deployment [12]. Like text-based virtual AI models, which are known to memorize and expose personally identifiable information [75, 76], commercial robots have been shown to disclose proprietary information through simple prompts [61]."
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"Non-embodied AIs are known to propagate misinformation [81, 82]. Various studies have shown that LLMs hallucinate information, including academic citations [83], clinical knowledge [84], and cultural references [85]. EAI systems inherit these shortcomings in the physical world, answering user questions with deceptive or incorrect information [86]. Because VLAs fuse vision and language, their hallucinatory failures can be spatially grounded—e.g., misidentifying an object in view and then generating a plausible yet unsafe action plan around it. And although automated home assistants like Amazon
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"EAI systems present distinct physical risks due to their embodiment in the physical world. EAI technologies have already been designed and deployed with lethal intent, such as AI-controlled drones [52, 53]. However, fully autonomous military robots, often integrated with bespoke AI architectures [54, 55], are not yet widely used in combat. While highly or fully autonomous warfare is distinctly possible in the future [56], immediate risks arise from commercially available EAI systems, including AI-controlled quadrupeds and autonomous driving assistants."
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"Constant access to and interaction with EAI systems could foster dangerous human dependence or romantic attachment [115]. People may depend on EAI systems for physical pleasure [116]. The physical presence and human-like features of EAI systems may significantly amplify the dependency issues already observed with conversational AI [117, 118]. People may easily fall in love with EAI systems, only to be distraught when these systems are altered or have their memories reset [119]."
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70.03.00 · Risk Category
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"EAI deployment could accelerate the consolidation of economic and political power. Unlocking increasing returns to capital for EAI owners, EAI will decrease employers’ reliance on and responsiveness to the needs of human labor [101]."
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"While virtual AI applications will likely displace certain types of human cognitive labor, EAI systems could significantly replace or displace physical human labor [90]. At a minimum, EAI will likely augment the type of work that humans perform [91, 92]."
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"Along with displacing labor, EAI could significantly exacerbate wealth inequalities. Those who have access to or own EAI systems will be able to automate labor and perform many tasks significantly better or faster than those without access. These significant productivity advantages will potentially concentrate wealth and exacerbate domestic and international inequality [98, 99]."
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"Determining responsibility when EAI causes harm requires new accountability and liability frameworks that address the complexities of highly autonomous physical systems. Human users may disagree with decisions taken by expert EAI systems, raising significant questions of delegation and responsibility [108]. Lack of EAI accountability could lead to confusion for users and breakdowns in traditional justice systems [109]."
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"EAI deployment could fundamentally reshape society, particularly if the speed of technological development outpaces society’s ability to adapt [103, 120]. For example, EAI systems could provide physical threats of violence and mass surveillance capabilities to back up AI-enabled authoritarianism [121]."
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"Automation in sectors ranging from manufacturing to healthcare has and will increasingly put humans into close contact with EAI systems [7]. This interaction increases the risk of accidental physical harm. Though accidental harm has been a longstanding issue in industrial robotics, increased AI capabilities could exacerbate this risk; several recent reports document an increase in industrial injuries following the introduction of AI-controlled robots [66–68]."
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"Understanding how AI reaches conclusions or why AI systems perform specific actions motivates an entire branch of interpretability research [111], but physical embodiment raises the stakes for understanding these systems. For example, transparency of planned actions and explainability of decision-making is crucial when an AV suddenly changes lanes. A lack of transparency and explainability could lead to a lack of trust, which could become a critical and socially destabilizing issue with the widespread deployment of EAI [112–114]."
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70.01.00 · Risk Category
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70.02.00 · Risk Category
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70.04.00 · Risk Category
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Informational only, not legal advice. Verify every claim against the linked official sources and consult qualified counsel before acting.