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
314 incidents
Robot Destroyed while Hitchhiking through the United States
A non-actuated conversational robot that previously asked people to move it across Canada was destroyed shortly after beginning its attempt to replicate the journey across the United States.
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.
Employee Automatically Terminated by Computer Program
An employee was laid off, allegedly by an artificially intelligent personnel system, and blocked from access to the building and computer systems without their knowledge.
Uber Autonomous Cars Running Red Lights
Uber vehicles equipped with technology allowing for autonomous driving running red lights in San Francisco street testing.
Robot kills worker at German Volkswagen plant
A Volkswagen plant robot "crushed to death" a worker by pinning him to a metal plate.
Misreading of an Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) Unverified by Police, Resulting in Traffic Stop in Missouri
An automated license plate reader (ALPR) camera misread a 7 as a 2 and incorrectly alerted the local police about a stolen Oldsmobile car, which was allegedly not able to be verified by an officer before a traffic stop was effected on a BMW in Kansas City suburb.
Nest Smoke Alarm Erroneously Stops Alarming
In testing, Google Nest engineers demonstrated that the Nest Wave feature of their Nest Protect: Smoke + CO Alarm could inadvertently silence genuine alarms.
ETS Used Allegedly Flawed Voice Recognition Evidence to Accuse and Assess Scale of Cheating, Causing Thousands to be Deported from the UK
International testing organization ETS admits voice recognition as evidence of cheating for thousands of previous TOEIC test-takers that reportedly included wrongfully accused people, causing them to be deported without an appeal process or seeing their incriminating evidence.