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
289 incidents
Unreliable ShotSpotter Audio Convicted Black Rochester Man of Shooting Police
ShotSpotter's "unreliable" audio was used as scientific evidence to accuse and convict a Black man of attempting to shoot Rochester's city police, whose conviction was later reversed by a county judge.
Google Waymo Vehicle and Bus Allegedly Collide in California
On February 14, 2016, a Google autonomous test vehicle partially responsible for a low-speed collision with a bus on El Camino Real in Google’s hometown of Mountain View, CA.
Self-driving cars in winter
Volvo autonomous driving XC90 SUV's experienced issues in Jokkmokk, Sweden when sensors used for automated driving iced over during the winter, rendering them useless.
Dutch City Court Defended Home Value Generated by Black-Box Algorithm
A home value generated by a black-box algorithm was reportedly defended by the Castricum court, which was criticized by a legal specialist for setting a dangerous precedent for accepting black-box algorithms as long as their results appear reasonable.
A Tesla Crashed into and Killed a Road Sweeper on a Highway in China
A Tesla Model S collided with and killed a road sweeper on a highway near Handan, China, an accident where Tesla previously said it was not able to determine whether Autopilot was operating at the time of the crash.
Arkansas's Opaque Algorithm to Allocate Health Care Excessively Cut Down Hours for Beneficiaries
Beneficiaries of the Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS)'s Medicaid waiver program were allocated excessively fewer hours of caretaker visit via an algorithm deployed to boost efficiency, which reportedly contained errors and whose outputs varied wildly despite small input changes.
Amazon Alexa Responding to Environmental Inputs
There are multiple reports of Amazon Alexa products (Echo, Echo Dot) reacting and acting upon unintended stimulus, usually from television commercials or news reporter's voices.
Collection of Robotic Surgery Malfunctions
Study on database reports of robotic surgery malfunctions (8,061), including those ending in injury (1,391) and death (144), between 2000 and 2013.
Worker killed by robot in welding accident at car parts factory in India
A factory robot at the SKH Metals Factory in Manesar, India pierced and killed 24-year-old worker Ramji Lal when Lal reached behind the machine to dislodge a piece of metal stuck in the machine.
Australian Automated Debt Assessment System Issued False Notices to Thousands
Australian Department of Human Services (DHS)’s automated debt assessment system issued false or incorrect debt notices to hundreds of thousands of people, resulting in years-long lawsuits and damages to welfare recipients.
Google and Delphi Self-Driving Prototypes Allegedly Involved in Near-Miss on San Antonio Road, Palo Alto
A Delphi self-driving Audi Q5 prototype reportedly aborted a lane change after a Google self-driving Lexus RX400h allegedly cut in front of it on San Antonio Road in Palo Alto, California. According to Delphi executive John Absmeier, the Delphi car "took appropriate action" to avoid collision. No crash or injuries occurred.
Facebook's AI-Supported Moderation Failed to Classify Terrorist Content in East African Languages
Facebook's system involving algorithmic content moderation for East African languages was reportedly failing to identify violating content on the platform such as mistakenly classifying non-terrorist content.
Waze Allegedly Clogged Streets and Directed Drivers to Make Unsafe Traffic Decisions
For years, Waze has, in an attempt to cut travel times, allegedly caused more traffic and guided drivers to make unsafe and often un-permitted traffic decisions, which was described by a Los Angeles city council member as a threat to public safety.
Facebook’s On-This-Day Feature Mistakenly Showed Painful Memories to Users
Facebook’s “On This Day” algorithm which highlighted past posts on a user’s private page or News Feed confronted unwanted and painful personal memories to its users.
Facebook Automated Year-in-Review Highlights Showed Users Painful Memories
Facebook’s “Year in Review” algorithm which compiled content in users’ past year as highlights inadvertently showed painful and unwanted memories to users, including death of family member.