Risk

Any potential adverse consequence arising from the development, deployment or operation of an AI system, assessed by likelihood and impact; risks are to be identified, categorised and mitigated across the AI lifecycle in a manner proportionate to the system’s context and potential harm.

Conceptualised as the likelihood and severity of harm arising from an AI system over its lifecycle, distinguishing operational safety risks, rights‑based harms (e.g., privacy, discrimination), and broader societal risks (e.g., disinformation, systemic bias), used to tier systems and determine mitigation measures.

Within functional safety, 'risk' is defined as the combination of the probability of occurrence of harm and the severity of that harm. This concept is central to risk assessment, guiding the identification and mitigation of potential dangers in AI-enabled systems.