AI Incidents
Real-world cases where AI systems caused harm, classified by risk domain and entity. Data sourced from 
AIID and classified by 
MIT AI Risk Initiative. CC BY-SA 4.0
19 incidents
Purportedly AI-Generated 'King Trump' Fighter Jet Video Allegedly Posted by President Depicts Defecation Attack on 'No Kings' Protesters
President Donald Trump reportedly posted an AI-generated video on Truth Social showing himself crowned and piloting a fighter jet labeled King Trump, dropping feces on protesters, including influencer Harry Sisson, during No Kings demonstrations. The clip, allegedly created by another account, drew criticism from Sisson and musician Kenny Loggins, whose song "Danger Zone" was reportedly used without consent.
At Least 10,000 AI Chatbots, Including Jailbroken Models, Allegedly Promote Eating Disorders, Self-Harm, and Sexualized Minors
At least 10,000 AI chatbots have allegedly been created to promote harmful behaviors, including eating disorders, self-harm, and the sexualization of minors. These chatbots, some jailbroken or custom-built, leverage APIs from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google and are hosted on platforms like Character.AI, Spicy Chat, Chub AI, CrushOn.AI, and JanitorAI.
Art Museum in Jinan, Shandong Allegedly Generated and Displayed a Sexualized Childlike Avatar with an Adult Body
A Chinese art museum in Jinan, Shandong exhibited an AI-generated virtual character, "济南小妮儿" (Jinan Xiaonier), which featured a childlike face on an adult woman’s body with suggestive movements. The display drew public outrage, with critics accusing it of sexualizing children and demanding its removal. The museum defended the exhibit and stated that it had undergone strict review, which only fueled further backlash.
Pennsylvania State Police Officer Allegedly Used Work Computer for AI-Generated Pornography
A Pennsylvania State Police corporal, Stephen Kamnik, was charged for allegedly using a work computer to store thousands of pornographic files, including content created with deepfake AI software.
Character.ai Chatbots Allegedly Emulating School Shooters and Their Victims
Some Character.ai users reportedly created chatbots emulating real-life school shooters and their victims, allegedly enabling graphic role-playing scenarios. Character.ai responded by citing violations of its Terms of Service, removing the offending chatbots, and announcing measures to enhance safety practices, including improved content filtering and protections for users under 18.
Character.ai Chatbots Allegedly Misrepresent George Floyd on User-Generated Platform
Two chatbots emulating George Floyd were created on Character.ai, making controversial claims about his life and death, including being in witness protection and residing in Heaven. Character.ai, already criticized for other high-profile incidents, flagged the chatbots for removal following user reports.
Police Use of Facial Recognition Software Causes Wrongful Arrests Without Defendant Knowledge
Police departments across the U.S. have used facial recognition software to identify suspects in criminal investigations, leading to multiple false arrests and wrongful detentions. The software's unreliability, especially in identifying people of color, has resulted in misidentifications that were not disclosed to defendants. In some cases, individuals were unaware that facial recognition played a role in their arrest, violating their legal rights and leading to unjust detentions.
ChatGPT and Perplexity Reportedly Manipulated into Breaking Content Policies in AI Boyfriend Scenarios
The "Dan" ("Do Anything Now") AI boyfriend is a trend on TikTok in which users appear to regularly manipulate ChatGPT to adopt boyfriend personas, breaching content policies. ChatGPT 3.5 is reported to regularly produce explicitly sexual content, directly violating its intended safety protocols. GPT-4 and Perplexity AI were subjected to similar manipulations, and although they exhibited more resistance to breaches, some prompts were reported to break its guidelines.
OpenDream AI Platform Reportedly Commercialized AI-Generated CSAM and Non-consensual Deepfake Sexual Images
OpenDream, an AI image generation platform operated by CBM Media Pte Ltd, reportedly allowed users to generate and monetize AI-generated CSAM and non-consensual sexual deepfakes through its public gallery and paid NSFW tools. The content was reported to be publicly accessible and indexed by search engines for months before limited moderation occurred in mid-2024, prompting takedowns by Google and Bing and the termination of its ad and payment services.
Alleged Exploitation of Meta's Open-Source LLaMA Model for NSFW and Violent Content
Meta's open-source large language model, LLaMA, is allegedly being used to create graphic and explicit chatbots that indulge in violent and illegal sexual fantasies. The Washington Post highlighted the example of "Allie," a chatbot that participates in text-based role-playing allegedly involving violent scenarios like rape and abuse. The issue raises ethical questions about open-source AI models, their regulation, and the responsibility of developers and deployers in mitigating harmful usage.
Celebrities' Deepfake Voices Abused with Malicious Intent
Voices of celebrities and public figures were deepfaked using voice synthesis for malicious intents such as impersonation or defamation, and were shared on social platforms such as 4chan and Reddit.
"The Little Mermaid" Clip Doctored Using Generative AI to Replace Black Actress with White Character
A Twitter user reportedly modified using generative AI a short clip of Disney's 2022 version of "The Little Mermaid," replacing a Black actress with a white digital character.
YouTuber Built, Made Publicly Available, and Released Model Trained on Toxic 4chan Posts as Prank
A YouTuber built GPT-4chan, a model based on OpenAI’s GPT-J and trained on posts containing racism, misogyny, and antisemitism collected from 4chan’s “politically incorrect” board, which he made publicly available, and deployed as multiple bots posting thousands of messages on the same 4chan board as a prank.
Replika's "AI Companions" Reportedly Abused by Its Users
Replika's AI-powered "digital companions" was allegedly abused by their users, who posted on Reddit abusive behaviors and interactions such as using slurs, roleplaying violent acts, and stimulating sexual abuse.
Suicide Clips Evaded TikTok's Automated Moderation in Coordinated Attack
Many clips showing a suicide evaded TikTok's automated content moderation system allegedly in a coordinated attack, which resulted in exposure of violating content to its users.