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
682 incidents
Peppermill Casino Facial Recognition System Reportedly Misidentified Individual, Leading to Wrongful Arrest in Reno
Purported facial recognition technology deployed at Reno's Peppermill Casino reportedly misidentified Jason Killinger as an individual previously banned from the venue. Casino security reportedly detained Killinger and contacted police, leading to his arrest by the Reno PD. He was reportedly held for 11 hours, including several hours in handcuffs, before fingerprinting reportedly confirmed the misidentification. The incident resulted in alleged physical injury and civil liberties harms.
Teen's Overdose Reportedly Linked to Meta's AI Systems Failing to Block Ads for Illegal Drugs
Meta's AI moderation systems reportedly failed to block ads for illegal drugs on Facebook and Instagram, allowing users to access dangerous substances. The system's failure is linked to the overdose death of Elijah Ott, a 15-year-old boy who sought drugs through Instagram.
Flawed AI in Google Search Reportedly Misinforms about Geography
Google's search AI erroneously claimed no African country begins with 'K', along with various other geography-and-letter-based questions, misguiding users with a flawed featured snippet. Originating from ChatGPT-written posts and inaccurately scraped by Google, this incident highlights issues in AI-generated content and misinformation in search results, compromising Google's reliability as an information source.
Alleged Gaggle Surveillance Alert Reportedly Leads to Arrest and Detention of 13-Year-Old Student in Fairview, Tennessee
Sometime in August 2023, a 13-year-old student at Fairview Middle School in Tennessee was reportedly arrested, strip-searched, and detained overnight after Gaggle's purported AI-powered surveillance system flagged a private online message as a threat. The student's comment, reportedly a joke in context, was sent to law enforcement under a state zero-tolerance law. The incident reportedly resulted in house arrest, alternative school placement, and a lawsuit alleging wrongful arrest.
Cruise Robotaxi Initially Blamed for Ambulance Delay in Case Where Patient Later Died; Subsequent Reports Clear Cruise of Fault
In an initial report, a Cruise robotaxi was said to have delayed a San Francisco ambulance transporting Sammy Davis, a critically injured 69-year-old hit by a city bus. Davis later died. Subsequent clarification revealed that Cruise was not at fault for the fatality; the actual cause was a human-operated city bus. Despite this, the incident is included as it highlights challenges in the interaction between autonomous vehicles and emergency services in urban settings.
Driverless Cruise Cars Immobilized in San Francisco Traffic Jam
A fleet of Cruise's autonomous vehicles became unexpectedly immobilized on a busy San Francisco street, causing significant traffic disruption. The incident was attributed to wireless connectivity issues exacerbated by a nearby festival.
AI Meal Planner Suggests Hazardous Chlorine Gas Recipe
Pak 'n' Save's AI-based app, Savey Meal-bot, inadvertently suggested dangerous recipes, including one creating chlorine gas, when users entered non-food household items, raising safety and oversight concerns.
University Student Reportedly Received Zero After Turnitin AI Detector Flagged Essay
An anonymized university student said Turnitin’s AI detector flagged 67% of an essay as AI-generated, despite the student claiming to have written the assignment by hand. The student reportedly received a zero and said attempts to appeal to the professor, department head, and Turnitin support had not resolved the accusation.
AI Photo Filter Lightens Skin, Changes Eye Color in Student's 'Professional' Image
An AI application modified an MIT student's photo to appear 'professional' by lightening her skin and changing her eye color to blue, highlighting the racial bias in the training data of the program.
Harmful Stereotyping of Non-Cisgendered People via Text-to-Image Systems
Text-to-image systems such as DALL-E are allegedly generating biased and often insulting representations of non-cisgender identities. The systems tend to generate stereotypical and sexualized images when prompted with gender identity terms like "trans," "nonbinary," or "queer," highlighting systemic issues of bias.
Bankrate's Resumption of AI-Generated Content Allegedly Continuing to Produce Inaccurate and Misleading Information
Bankrate, and its sister site CNET, both owned by Red Ventures, resumed publishing AI-generated articles claiming thorough human fact-checking. However, new articles are alleged to contain numerous factual errors, including inaccurate statistics and misleading information. Despite public criticism, the company defended its use of AI and blamed out-of-date datasets for the errors. In addition to the errors, the incident raises questions about the ethical use of AI in journalism, especially given the company's insistence on "fact-checked" content.
Google Ads Allegedly Serving Content on AI-Generated Misinformation Sites
Google’s advertising platform, Google Ads, has allegedly been found to be serving ads on AI-generated content farms that often disseminate misinformation. Despite policies prohibiting such practices, reportedly there are approximately 356 out of 393 ads from major brands that were found to be served by Google on these problematic sites. Particularly concerning according to the reporting were instances where Google Ads were found on sites like MedicalOutline.com, which spreads harmful health misinformation.
Tesla on Autopilot Struck Parked Work Truck on Highway in Pennsylvania
A 2016 Tesla on Autopilot crashed into the rear of a parked 2007 Freightliner truck providing traffic control on the Pennsylvania Turnpike highway.
Bing Chat Solved CAPTCHAs with Image Analysis Feature Despite Safeguards
Microsoft was reported by a Twitter user for deploying image analysis feature capable of solving CAPTCHAs for its GPT-based chatbot despite it being safeguarded against solving them for users.
Colorado Lawyer Filed a Motion Citing Hallucinated ChatGPT Cases
A Colorado Springs attorney, Zachariah Crabill, mistakenly used hallucinated ChatGPT-generated legal cases in court documents. The AI software provided false case citations, leading to the denial of a motion and legal repercussions for Crabill, highlighting risks in using AI for legal research.