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
1,751 incidents
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.
Tesla Model X on Autopilot Crashed into California Highway Barrier, Killing Driver
A Tesla Model X P100D operating on Autopilot's Traffic-Aware Cruise Control (TACC) and Autosteer system allegedly accelerated above the speed limit of a highway in Mountain View, California, and steered itself directly into a barrier, resulting in its driver’s death.
Uber AV Killed Pedestrian in Arizona
An Uber autonomous vehicle (AV) in autonomous mode struck and killed a pedestrian in Tempe, Arizona.
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.
Australian Telco’s Incident Management Bot Excessively Sent Technicians in the Field by Mistake, Allegedly Costing Millions
In early 2018, an Australian telecommunications company’s incident management AI excessively deployed technicians into the field, and was allegedly unable to be stopped by the automation team.
Google Photo Merge Decapitates Subject
Google Photos' AI Assistant created a strange hybrid photograph when merging three different pictures from a ski trip.
Tesla on Autopilot Collided with Parked Fire Truck on California Freeway
A Tesla Model S operating on Autopilot mode crashed into the back of a parked fire truck on a freeway in Culver City, California in a non-fatal collision.
Customer Service Robot Scares Away Customers
Heriot-Watt Univeristy in Scotland developed an artificially intelligent grocery store robot, Fabio, who provided unhelpful answers to customer's questions and "scared away" multiple customers, according to the grocery store Margiotta.
Gmail’s Inbox Sorting System Reportedly Reduced Visibility of Political Emails and Campaign Calls-to-Action
Google's Gmail inbox sorting algorithm for political emails was reported by presidential candidates, nonprofits, and advocacy groups for having negative impact on call-to-actions, allegedly suppressing donations and impeding political actions.
Waze App Allegedly Caused Tourists’ Car to End up in Lake Champlain, Vermont
The tourists driving through Vermont blamed Waze for directing them into a boat launch in Lake Champlain, prompting the vehicle to slide into the water by the time the drivers realized their location in the dark and foggy weather.
Bad AI-Written Christmas Carols
Janelle Shane, an AI research scientist, used 240 popular Christmas carols to train a neural network to write its own carols. This incident has been downgraded to an issue as it does not meet current ingestion criteria.
Waze Navigates Motorists into Wildfires
Waze, a Google-owned directions app, led California drivers into the 2017 Skirball wildfires as they tried to evacuate the area.