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
Reported Doctored Video of Nigerian President Bola Tinubu Claims Naira Will Be Replaced by U.S. Dollar
A reported viral video circulated in Nigeria in the late summer and early fall of 2023 falsely claiming that President Bola Tinubu announced plans to replace the naira with the U.S. dollar. The video, reportedly styled as a news segment from Arise News, was allegedly digitally altered using AI-generated audio and lip-sync manipulation. Arise News publicly denounced the clip as a deepfake, and no legitimate media sources corroborated the claim. The video appeared amid public anxiety over Nigeria's ongoing currency crisis.
Deepfake Voice Exploit Compromises Retool's Cloud Services
In August 2023, a hacker reportedly was successful in breaching Retool, an IT company specializing in business software solutions, impacting 27 cloud customers. The attacker appears to have initiated the breach by sending phishing SMS messages to employees and later used an AI-generated deepfake voice in a phone call to obtain multi-factor authentication codes. The breach seems to have exposed vulnerabilities in Google's Authenticator app, specifically its cloud-syncing function, further enabling unauthorized access to internal systems.
Campaign Featuring Purported AI-Generated Audio Attributed to Omar al-Bashir Spreads During Sudanese Conflict
Beginning in late August 2023, a TikTok channel called The Voice of Sudan circulated purported AI-generated audio claiming to be leaked recordings of former Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir. Experts identified several recordings as voice-cloned fabrications, derived from unrelated broadcasts by a political commentator. The campaign emerged during Sudan's civil war and appeared designed to influence political perceptions. TikTok later removed the account for violating synthetic media policies.
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.
AI-Generated Imagery and Multilingual Disinformation in Chinese Campaign Regarding Maui Wildfires
In a disinformation campaign concerning wildfires across Maui, Chinese operatives utilized AI-generated imagery to enhance the credibility of false narratives. These narratives claimed that the wildfires were the result of a secret "weather weapon" being tested by the United States. Researchers from Microsoft and other organizations identified these AI-generated images as a significant new tactic in influence operations.
Harris County, Texas, Deputies Reportedly Detained Two 19-Year-Olds at Gunpoint After Flock Safety License-Plate Reader Detected Different Stolen Camaro
In Cypress, Texas, sheriff's deputies reportedly held two 19-year-old men at gunpoint and handcuffed them after Flock Safety cameras detected the plate of a stolen Camaro linked to robberies. An undercover unit then spotted a similar Camaro but could not read its plate; after the detention, deputies realized it was the wrong car. One man reported cuts and scrapes after being pushed to the ground.
Flock Safety License-Plate Reader Reportedly Misread Plate Digit, Prompting Gunpoint Stop of Two Sisters in Española, New Mexico
In July 2023, Española police stopped Jaclynn Gonzales and her 12-year-old sister after a Flock Safety license-plate reader reportedly read the final digit of Gonzales's plate as 7 rather than 2, matching a stolen plate. Body-camera reporting showed officers drew guns and handcuffed both before confirming the mismatch. The sisters later sued; Española police said officers followed procedure.
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.
Cigna Algorithm PXDX Allegedly Rejected Thousands of Patient Claims En Masse in Breach of California Law
Cigna health insurer faces a class-action lawsuit for allegedly using the PXDX ("procedure-to-diagnosis") algorithm to automatically reject over 300,000 patient claims in violation of California law, prompting two members to file the lawsuit seeking damages and a jury trial. Cigna disputes the allegations, claiming the process expedites physician reimbursement and does not result in care denials.
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.
Never Back Down Super PAC for Ron DeSantis Uses AI Donald Trump Voice in Attack Ad Against Kim Reynolds
A pro-Ron DeSantis super PAC released an ad featuring an AI-generated voice of Donald Trump. The ad, created by Never Back Down, aimed to criticize Trump’s treatment of Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds. The AI-generated voice was confirmed to be based on Trump's post from his social media. This incident is an example of potential deception in political advertising through AI-generated content.