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The votes are in: AI will hurt elections and relationships

The Register · Thomas Claburn · last updated

Latest report from Stanford’s AI boffins finds unsafe usage practices, widespread anxiety about impacts, and China catching up to the USA

Artificial intelligence has achieved mass adoption faster than the personal computer or the internet, reaching 53 percent of the population in just three years. The number of harmful AI incidents has increased correspondingly. And both experts and laypeople believe the impact will be felt in two areas: Elections and relationships.

According to the 2026 AI Index Report [PDF], from Stanford University’s Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI), “Responsible AI is not keeping pace with AI capability, with safety benchmarks lagging and incidents rising sharply.”

Documented AI incidents – defined as “harms or near harms realized in the real world by the deployment of artificial intelligence systems” by the AI Incident Database – reached 362 in 2025, up from 233 in 2024, the report says.

Latest report from Stanford’s AI boffins finds unsafe usage practices, widespread anxiety about impacts, and China catching up to the USA

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