Frontier AI may also result in indirect consequences that further degrade the information 
environment. For example, AI-generated functionalities and content are increasingly being 
integrated into search engines, which may lower traffic to news articles, harming the business 
models of news organisations that play an important role in debunking misinformation.161 

Many of the harms arising from this degradation of the information environment would not be 
novel to AI, but the use of frontier AI may accelerate existing trends. Some examples of 
potential harm caused by frontier AI degrading the information environment include: 

●  Encouraging individuals to make dangerous decisions, for example through suggesting 

toxic substances as medicine. 

●  Exposing young or vulnerable people to high-risk information and age-restricted content, 

or significantly shaping their information diet.  

●  Promoting skewed or radical views as a result of model features — i.e. sycophancy162
Capabilities and risks from frontier AI 