Trust in insurers is growing in a world in polycrisis: AXA

Risks associated with artificial intelligence (AI), cybersecurity and global warming are among the main concerns for the general population; however, trust in various players, like insurers and scientists, to limit the consequences of new global crises is growing, according to a recent AXA report.

The tenth edition of its Future Risks Report highlighted the concept of polycrisis – the simultaneous occurrence of several catastrophic events.

In this case, geopolitical tensions, the exponential emergence of new technologies, or the acceleration of global warming, no longer follow one another but are happening at the same time.

AXA’s report was carried out among 3,500 experts in 50 countries and a representative sample of 20,000 members of the general population in 15 countries, this study measures and ranks their perception of evolving and rising risks.

Since 2020, this report has been produced in partnership with the IPSOS polling institute. The data is then analysed by the AXA Group’s in-house experts.

Risks associated with AI and big data are among the report’s main findings. These show the greatest increase in the experts’ rankings, rising from 14th place in 2022 to 4th place in 2023. Most of the experts (64%) and the public (70%) even believe that AI research should be halted.

For the sixth year running, cybersecurity risks are on the experts’ “podium”, AXA states. For the first time, they have also made it into the Top 3 for the general population.

The “cyber-war” motif was included in the list enabling the experts to justify their choice, closely linking this subject to that of geopolitical instability, which took the third position this year.

Global warming is in first place among both experts and the public. But, for the first time, this risk is ranked first in every region of the world, including by the public, without exception, the report highlighted.

Finally, the feeling of vulnerability remains at a high level. According to the report, 84% of experts said they feel more vulnerable than they did five years ago at national levels (compared with 76% in 2020), and 73% at local levels (compared with 64% in 2020).

This trend is also apparent in the general population, where feelings of vulnerability have increased by 7% in three years at both national and local levels.

“However, the trust in various players to limit the consequences of new global crises is on the rise,” AXA stated.

The report found that scientists are trusted by 84% of experts and 70% of the general population. The level of confidence in companies is growing among both experts (72%, up 8% in one year) and the general population (49%, up 4%).

At the same time, 93% of experts and 74% of the general population believe that the role of insurers in limiting the impact of future risks is important or very important, figures that compared with 89% and 69% last year.

Thomas Buberl, CEO of AXA, said: “This tenth edition of the Future Risks Report highlights a world in polycrisis. The last three years have been impacted by the global pandemic, the war in Ukraine, the worsening consequences of global warming… Now we have to add rising risks linked to artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, as well as an increasingly unstable geopolitical framework.

“Despite the scale of the challenges, we do not want to see the future as a risk. To achieve this, we need to build on the general population’s growing confidence in scientists – and therefore in progress and science – and in businesses, particularly insurance, which ¾ of those questioned considered to be capable of limiting the impact of future risks.”