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
566 incidents
Kate Isaacs, Advocate Against Image-Based Abuse, Reports Being Deepfaked
Kate Isaacs, a London-based activist and founder of the #NotYourPorn campaign, was targeted in a deepfake incident. Her face was alleged to have been digitally manipulated onto a pornographic video using AI and shared online. The reported video, tagged with her name, is alleged to have led to streams of abuse, doxing, and threats of violence. The attack reportedly followed her efforts to pressure PornHub to remove unverified content.
Weibo Model Had Difficulty Detecting Shifts in Censored Speech
Weibo's user moderation model is having difficulty keeping up with shifting user slang in defiance of Chinese state censors.
Students Reportedly Used Generative Text Tools to Complete School Assignments and Exams
Students in school and university settings reportedly used generative text tools including Sudowrite, GPT-3/OpenAI Playground, and ChatGPT to complete homework, essays, and exams without disclosure. Reporting described admitted student use and growing concern among educators that these tools undermined academic integrity, disadvantaged non-using students, and disrupted assessment practices.
Fraudsters Use Deepfake Video of Tim Cook to Promote Apple Crypto Scam on YouTube
Fraudsters repurposed an old interview with Apple CEO Tim Cook using AI or video editing to promote a fake crypto event on YouTube. The altered video was designed to mislead viewers into believing Tim Cook endorsed a new cryptocurrency scheme. The stream attracted tens of thousands of viewers, potentially exposing them to the scam before it was removed for violating YouTube’s terms of service.
Stable Diffusion Abused by 4chan Users to Deepfake Celebrity Porn
Stable Diffusion, an open-source image generation model by Stability AI, was reportedly leaked on 4chan prior to its release date, and was used by its users to generate pornographic deepfakes of celebrities.
Deepfakes Reportedly Deployed in Online Interviews for Remote Work Positions
Voice and video deepfakes were reported by FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) in complaint reports to have been deployed during online interviews of the candidates for remote-work positions.
Yahoo Boys Allegedly Employ Real-Time Deepfake Technology in Romance Scams
Scammers from Nigeria, known as "Yahoo Boys," are reportedly utilizing real-time deepfake technology to impersonate individuals during video calls, deceiving victims in romance scams. By allegedly altering their appearance with face-swapping software, they build trust under false identities to defraud targets of substantial sums.
Robbers Accessed Drugged Gay Men's Bank Accounts Using Their Phones' Facial Recognition
Gay men in New York City were drugged by robbers who accessed their phones using facial recognition while they were unconscious to transfer funds out of their bank accounts.
Northern Ireland MLA Cara Hunter Allegedly Targeted by Deepfake Pornography Ahead of May 2022 Assembly Election
Sometime in April 2022, reportedly some weeks before the May 5, 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election, Member of the Legislative Assembly Cara Hunter was targeted in a deepfake pornography incident. A fake video depicting her in explicit scenarios is reported to have circulated widely on WhatsApp. Law enforcement have as of yet been unable to trace the origins of the video, according to reports. Additionally, it is alleged that about six months after the initial incident, she was the target of at least 15 more AI-generated deepfakes depicting her likeness in underwear.
AI-Generated Faces Used by Scammers to Pose as a Law Firm in Boston
GAN faces were allegedly used by scammers alongside a parked domain and a fake website to impersonate a Boston law firm.
Deepfake Video of Ukrainian President Yielding to Russia Posted on Ukrainian Websites and Social Media
A quickly-debunked deepfaked video of the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was posted on various Ukrainian websites and social media platforms encouraging Ukrainians to surrender to Russian forces during the Russia-Ukraine war.
Fake LinkedIn Profiles Created Using GAN Photos
More than a thousand inauthentic LinkedIn profiles using allegedly GAN-generated photos were notified by researchers at Stanford to LinkedIn’s staff, and many of which were removed for violating rules against creating fake profiles and falsifying information.
AI-Generated Profiles Used in Disinformation Campaign Targeting Ukrainians
According to security reports by Meta, fictitious personas with GAN-generated profile pictures were used by people operating in Russia and Ukraine to push a disinformation campaign targeting Ukrainian social media users, and were taken down.
'Pravda' Network, Successor to 'Portal Kombat,' Allegedly Seeding AI Models with Kremlin Disinformation
A purported Moscow-based disinformation network, Pravda, allegedly infiltrated AI models by flooding the internet with pro-Kremlin falsehoods. A NewsGuard audit found that 10 major AI chatbots repeated these narratives 33% of the time, citing Pravda sources as legitimate. The tactic, called "LLM grooming," manipulates AI training data to embed Russian propaganda. Pravda is part of Portal Kombat, a larger Russian disinformation network identified by VIGINUM in February 2024, but in operation since February 2022.
Voices Created Using Publicly Available App Stolen and Resold as NFT without Attribution
An AI-synthetic audio sold as an NFT on Voiceverse’s platform was acknowledged by the company for having been created by 15.ai, a free web app specializing in text-to-speech and AI-voice generation, and reused without proper attribution.