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
736 incidents
Calgary Malls Reportedly Deployed Facial Recognition Without Customer Consent
Facial recognition (FRT) was reportedly deployed in some Calgary-area malls to approximate customer age and gender without explicit consent, which a privacy expert warned was a cause for concern.
Amazon Allegedly Violated Children's Privacy through Default Voice Collection Settings
Amazon's retention of children' voice recordings indefinitely as the default setting reportedly to train Alexa's voice recognition for Alexa-enabled devices was charged by the FTC and DOJ to violate COPPA Rule.
Investigative Journalist Rana Ayyub Targeted by AI-Generated Deepfake Pornography
Investigative journalist Rana Ayyub was targeted by a deepfake porn campaign, where AI-generated explicit content falsely depicted her in a pornographic video. This was part of a broader effort to discredit and silence her, which included a doxxing attack that exposed her personal information that resulted in severe harassment and emotional distress.
Facial Recognition Program in São Paulo Metro Stations Suspended for Illegal and Disproportionate Violation of Citizens' Right to Privacy
A facial recognition program rolled out by São Paulo Metro Stations was suspended following a court ruling in response to a lawsuit by civil society organizations, who cited fear of it being integrated with other electronic surveillance entities without consent, and lack of transparency about the biometric data collection process of metro users.
Argentinian City Government Deployed Teenage-Pregnancy Predictive Algorithm Using Invasive Demographic Data
In 2018, during the abortion-decriminalization debate in Argentina, the Salta city government deployed a teenage-pregnancy predictive algorithm built by Microsoft that allegedly lacked a defined purpose, explicitly considered sensitive information such as disability and whether their home had access to hot water.
All Image Captions Produced are Violent
MIT Media Lab researchers create AI-powered "psychopath" named Norman by training a model on "dark corners" of Reddit.
Man Arrested For Sock Theft by False Facial Match Despite Alibi
A man was arrested for theft of socks from a TJ Maxx store under the guise of an eyewitness ID case, after the local police asked the store's security guard to confirm the facial recognition match produced using surveillance footage, despite him having an alibi at the time of the theft.
Google Fined for Changing Shopping Algorithms in EU to Favor Own Service
Google was fined by EU Commission for changing its shopping algorithms in Europe to favor its own comparison service over competitors, resulting in anti-competitive effects.
Researchers' Homosexual-Men Detection Model Denounced as a Threat to LGBTQ People's Safety and Privacy
Researchers at Stanford Graduate School of Business developed a model that determined, on a binary scale, whether someone was homosexual using only his facial image, which advocacy groups such as GLAAD and the Human Rights Campaign denounced as flawed science and threatening to LGBTQ folks.
'Jewish Baby Strollers' Provided Antisemitic Google Images, Allegedly Resulting from Hate Speech Campaign
Results for Google Images searches for "Jewish baby strollers" reportedly showed offensive, antisemitic results, allegedly a result of a coordinated hate-speech campaign involving malicious actors on 4chan.
"Jewish Baby Strollers" Provided Anti-Semitic Google Images, Allegedly Resulting from Hate Speech Campaign
Google's Image search for "Jewish baby strollers" showed offensive, anti-Semitic results, allegedly a result of a coordinated hate-speech campaign involving malicious actors on 4chan.
UK High Court Found Sky Betting & Gaming Unlawfully Used Automated Profiling and Targeted Marketing to Exploit a Recovering Problem Gambler
In the UK, the High Court found that Sky Betting & Gaming unlawfully used automated profiling and targeted direct marketing to pursue a recovering problem gambler from July 28, 2017 onward without valid consent. Sky reportedly treated him as a high-value customer despite addiction indicators.
Airbnb's Trustworthiness Algorithm Allegedly Banned Users without Explanation, and Discriminated against Sex Workers
Airbnb allegedly considered publicly available data on users to gauge their trustworthiness via algorithmic assessment of personality and behavioral traits, resulting in unexplained bans and discriminatory bans against sex workers.
Deepfake Obama Introduction of Deepfakes
University of Washington researchers made a deepfake of Obama, followed by Jordan Peele
Clearview AI Algorithm Built on Photos Scraped from Social Media Profiles without Consent
Face-matching algorithm by Clearview AI was built using scraped images from social media sites such as Instagram and Facebook without user consent, violating social media site policies, and allegedly privacy regulations.