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
159 incidents
Unrepresented Litigant Misled by ChatGPT-Generated False Legal Citations in Manchester Court
A litigant in person (LiP) in a Manchester civil case presented false legal citations generated by ChatGPT. It fabricated one case name and provided fictitious excerpts for three real cases, misleadingly supporting the LiP's argument. The judge, upon investigation, found the submissions to be inadvertent and did not penalize the LiP.
Opera's GPT-Based AI Reportedly Accused War Photographers of War Crimes
When prompted about "photographers accused of committing war crimes," Opera's GPT-based chatbot Aria provided a list of photographers who take photography of military conflicts.
Purported AI-Generated Image of Explosion Near Pentagon Reportedly Triggers Brief Market Dip and Public Confusion
A Twitter/X account allegedly impersonating Bloomberg reportedly posted an image falsely showing an explosion near the Pentagon. Analysts reportedly described the image as likely AI-generated. The post reportedly spread through major accounts before officials confirmed no incident occurred. Markets reportedly dipped during the short period when the hoax circulated.
Google Results for Johannes Vermeer Featured AI Version of His Artwork as Top Result
Google's search engine featured an AI-generated hyperrealistic version of the painting "Girl With a Pearl Earring" as the highlighted result when users search for its Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer.
ChatGPT Reportedly Produced False Court Case Law Presented by Legal Counsel in Court
A lawyer in Mata v. Avianca, Inc. used ChatGPT for research. ChatGPT hallucinated court cases, which the lawyer then presented in court. The court determined the cases did not exist.
Google's Overview Panel for Artist Edward Hopper Featured Image Generated in His Style by AI
Google's knowledge panel for the American artist Edward Hopper featured an AI-generated image which was purportedly created in the artist's style but was not one of his works, the image of which was removed soon after.
ChatGPT Allegedly Produced False Accusation of Sexual Harassment
A lawyer in California asked the AI chatbot ChatGPT to generate a list of legal scholars who had sexually harassed someone. The chatbot produced a false story of Professor Jonathan Turley sexually harassing a student on a class trip.
Viral Image of Pope Francis in a Puffer Jacket Revealed to Be AI-Generated
A viral image of Pope Francis wearing a white puffer jacket was a deepfake produced by the photorealistic-image-generator Midjourney.
Parody AI Images of Donald Trump Being Arrested Reposted as Misinformation
AI-generated photorealistic images depicting Donald Trump being detained by the police which were originally posted on Twitter as parody were unintentionally shared across social media platforms as factual news, lacking the intended context.
ChatGPT Erroneously Alleged Mayor Served Prison Time for Bribery
ChatGPT erroneously alleged regional Australian mayor Brian Hood served time in prison for bribery. Mayor Hood is considering legal action against ChatGPT's makers for alleging a foreign bribery scandal involving a subsidiary of the Reserve Bank of Australia in the early 2000s.
South African Legal Team Reportedly Relied on Unverified ChatGPT Case Law in Johannesburg Body Corporate Defamation Matter
In a defamation case at the Johannesburg Regional Court, Rodrigues Blignaut Attorneys, representing plaintiff Michelle Parker, reportedly relied on purportedly non-existent legal judgments generated by ChatGPT to help argue their case. Magistrate Arvin Chaitram reportedly found the case names and citations were fictitious, causing a two-month delay. The court issued a punitive costs order and rebuked the plaintiff's legal team for uncritically accepting AI-generated research.
Purported Deepfake Video Falsely Depicts Biden Announcing National Draft for Ukraine
A purportedly AI-generated deepfake video falsely depicting President Biden announcing a national draft to support Ukraine was reportedly shared on social media, causing widespread misinformation. The video reportedly misled the public until debunked by fact-checkers.
Bing Chat Response Cited ChatGPT Disinformation Example
Reporters from TechCrunch issued a query to Microsoft Bing's ChatGPT feature, which cited an earlier example of ChatGPT disinformation discussed in a news article to substantiate the disinformation.
Bing Chat's Outputs Featured in Demo Video Allegedly Contained False Information
Microsoft's demo video of Bing Chat reportedly featured false or made up information such as non-existent pet vacuums features or false figures on financial statements.
Google's Bard Shared Factually Inaccurate Info in Promo Video
Google's conversational AI "Bard" was shown in the company's promotional video providing false information about which satellite first took pictures of a planet outside the Earth's solar system, reportedly causing shares to temporarily plummet.