What are information hazards?

Abstract

Information hazards are risks arising from the dissemination of true information that may cause harm or enable some agent to cause harm. These hazards can occur in a wide range of contexts, including risks from technological development and existential risks. Information hazards can be categorized into data hazards, idea hazards, and attention hazards. Some information hazards only risk harm to the knower of the true information themselves and as a direct result of them knowing the information. The concept of information hazards highlights the fact that even true information can sometimes cause harm, and thus it is important to consider the potential risks and harms before creating or spreading information – AI-generated abstract.