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Businesses are increasingly considering AI as a tool for verifying risk information, while incidents involving false or misleading content continue to impact operations, according to new research from the medical and security emergency responder International SOS.
They describe their Risk Outlook 2026 Pulse Check asย a mid-year deep-dive into the most pressing concerns identified by risk professionals. It found that nearly 60pc of respondents view the greatest potential for AI is in verifying or validating information across multiple sources.ย ย However, the findings also point to growing concerns around misinformation and deception. More than four in ten respondents (42pc) report that their organisation has either been affected by, or lacks sufficient visibility, to determine the impact of false, misleading or unverified information related to health, wellbeing or security risks. Respondents cited fake signals creating operational uncertainty, synthetic content increasing credibility risks, and targeted deception and impersonation.
Cvete Koneska, Global Security Director at International SOS said:ย โThe potential is real, but so too is the risk of overestimating the maturity of current tools. While AI can help surface, synthesise and prioritise information at speed, verificationย remainsย a high-stakes task where careful human judgementย remainsย indispensable, particularly when decisions canย impactย people’s health, safety, and security. Misplaced reliance on AI at this stage can amplify misinformation risks and delay critical decisions rather than improve them.ย The most prudent approach is a human-led model of integrating AI into risk management.”
Response
The firm says that the findings also point to broader, structural challenges in organisational risk response, with clarity of responsibility and decision-making processes emerging as significant concerns. Only ten per cent of organisations say they can respond “very quickly” to new risks. While 68pc believe they respond “fairly quickly”, this may not be sufficient in an increasingly volatile operating environment. One in five (20pc) admit they are “not quick to respond at all”. The study points to the speed of emerging risks since the beginning of 2026; giving less time to verify, and to align, and less margin for indecision. A business may face more crises and, increasingly, face having to manage multiple health and security developments that escalate in parallel, and cut across regions and functions, the firm says.
Webinar
It’s running a webinar on security intelligence and response in a crisis on August 20.
More on AI in the August 2026 edition of Professional Security Magazine.
