The record

Where automated decisions went wrong

Incidents gathered from public reporting around the world. Each one links to the articles it came from. None of it is a finding that anyone broke the law.

Reports people file about their own experience are not shown here and never will be without their agreement. Tell us what happened to you.

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68 incidents closest to “Butterfly Network” · matched on meaning · public reporting

WF-LZ87TG11 Jan 2023

Immunefi Bans 15 Users for Submitting ChatGPT-Generated Bug Reports

Immunefi, a crypto bug bounty platform, permanently banned 15 users for submitting bug reports generated by OpenAI's ChatGPT. The platform stated that the reports, while well-written, were nonsensical and wasted time for all parties. Immunefi said it will continue to monitor for AI-generated submissions and may reconsider the ban if AI tools become capable of producing genuine bug reports.

Company involved
Immunefi
AI system involved
ChatGPT

2 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-LYHNTC1 Jul 2026

Montefiore Allegedly Plans to Replace Nurses with AI for Insurance Reviews

The New York State Nurses Association alleges that Montefiore Health System plans to lay off 12 utilization review nurses and replace them with AI-powered software from Datavant. The union warns that the move could compromise patient care by having AI review insurance denials without clinical judgement. Montefiore denies the claims, stating they are investing in technology for better outcomes. The plan has sparked a town hall and calls from elected officials to halt the layoffs.

Company involved
Montefiore Health System

3 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-ZZHCAE1 Jun 2017

IBM Watson for Oncology recommended unsafe cancer treatments

Internal IBM documents reveal that its Watson for Oncology system often provided erroneous cancer treatment advice, including 'multiple examples of unsafe and incorrect treatment recommendations'. The problems were attributed to training on a small number of synthetic cases and the expertise of a few specialists rather than real patient data or established guidelines. The system was promoted to hospitals and physicians worldwide. It is unclear whether any patients were harmed as a result.

Company involved
IBM
AI system involved
Watson for Oncology

2 source articles · read the reporting →

Life360 sells precise location data of millions of users to data brokers

Life360, a family safety app used by 33 million people, sells precise location data of its users to approximately a dozen data brokers, according to interviews with former employees. The company removes obvious identifiers but does not adequately anonymize the data, allowing potential re-identification. Life360 announced it will stop sales to some brokers after the investigation.

Company involved
Life360
AI system involved
Life360 app

10 source articles · read the reporting →

Commercial network in Sri Lanka uses AI-generated anti-migrant content targeting UK

ISD and TBIJ identified a network of over 100 Facebook pages and groups run from Sri Lanka that spread AI-generated anti-migrant content to UK audiences for profit. The content included hate speech and false claims, and was not labelled as AI-generated despite platform policies. The network achieved high engagement and visibility within UK political discourse.

10 source articles · read the reporting →

Ukraine defence ministry uses Clearview AI facial recognition to identify dead and Russian assailants

Ukraine's defence ministry has started using Clearview AI's facial recognition technology to identify Russian assailants and the dead, according to reports. Clearview provided free access to its system, which holds over 10 billion images including from Russian social media. Critics warn that the technology could misidentify people at checkpoints and in battle, potentially harming civilians. Clearview says it should not be used as the sole source of identification.

Company involved
Ukraine's Ministry of Defense
AI system involved
Clearview AI

10 source articles · read the reporting →

Hikvision sells Uyghur recognition system to Chinese authorities

Hikvision, a Chinese surveillance company, sold a facial recognition system powered by NVIDIA to authorities in the People's Republic of China. The system is designed to identify Uyghur individuals, enabling ethnic profiling and surveillance. The article reports that the system was marketed as a tool for public security and was deployed without transparency or accountability. No specific incident of harm is described, but the potential for widespread discrimination and human rights abuses is highlighted.

Company involved
Hikvision
AI system involved
Uyghur recognition system

10 source articles · read the reporting →

Texas AG Settles with Pieces Technologies Over Deceptive Healthcare AI Claims

The Texas Attorney General investigated Pieces Technologies, a Dallas-based healthcare AI company, for making false and misleading statements about the accuracy of its generative AI product used in hospitals. The company claimed an error rate of less than 1 per 100,000, but the investigation found these metrics were likely inaccurate. As part of the settlement, Pieces agreed to accurately disclose its product's accuracy and ensure hospital staff understand the appropriate reliance on its AI. The case marks the first-of-its-kind healthcare generative AI investigation by the AG.

Company involved
Pieces Technologies

4 source articles · read the reporting →

Google's Nightingale project transfers medical data of millions without patient knowledge

An anonymous Google whistleblower states that the company acquired medical data of 50 million patients from Ascension without their knowledge. The transfer, known as Project Nightingale, raised privacy and security concerns. The article reports that a federal inquiry was launched into whether HIPAA protections were followed.

Company involved
Google

10 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-W7U79Y20 Dec 2024

Russian disinformation network Matryoshka uses AI deepfakes on Bluesky

The Russian disinformation network 'Matryoshka' has launched a campaign on Bluesky, posting AI-generated videos that impersonate academics to spread anti-Ukraine narratives. The videos use AI to replicate the voices of real professors, making false claims about the war. The campaign was detected by Bellingcat founder Eliot Higgins and the Bot Blocker project. The videos have gained limited traction on Bluesky so far, but researchers warn the platform is more vulnerable to such disinformation.

Company involved
Matryoshka (Russian disinformation network)

3 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-KZAA8P1 Jan 2021

UK study finds AI cannot detect COVID-19 from cough sounds

The UK Department of Health and Social Care awarded contracts to Fujitsu to develop a "Cough In A Box" app that would use AI to detect COVID-19 from cough sounds, based on earlier claims of high accuracy. However, a study led by the Alan Turing Institute found that machine learning models could not accurately predict COVID-19 from coughs due to confounding variables. The study concluded that the technology does not work for COVID-19 diagnosis.

Company involved
UK Department of Health and Social Care
AI system involved
Cough In A Box

10 source articles · read the reporting →

Clearview AI tested facial recognition surveillance cameras with UFT and Rudin

Clearview AI, the facial recognition company that scraped billions of photos from social media, developed a surveillance camera system under the name Insight Camera. The system was tested by the United Federation of Teachers and Rudin Management in New York City. The UFT used it to identify individuals who had made threats and prevent them from entering its offices. Clearview did not respond to requests for comment.

Company involved
Clearview AI
AI system involved
Insight Camera

9 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-52Q1NZ26 Feb 2021

Qoves facial assessment tool ranks journalist's attractiveness and suggests procedures

Tate Ryan-Mosley, a journalist at MIT Technology Review, used Qoves Studio's AI facial assessment tool, which automatically scored her face and listed perceived flaws such as smile lines and under-eye bags. The tool recommended skin-care products and paid surgical consultation reports. She also tried Megvii's Face++ beauty-scoring system, which gave her two percentage attractiveness scores. The article raises concerns that such algorithms are inaccurate, biased and not transparently used by social media platforms.

Company involved
Qoves Studio
AI system involved
Facial Assessment Tool

9 source articles · read the reporting →

DeepScore markets facial and voice analysis app for trustworthiness scoring despite experts' doubts

DeepScore, a Tokyo-based company, is marketing an app that uses facial and voice recognition to score people's trustworthiness for lenders and insurers in Japan, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines. The company says the app can detect deception with 70 per cent accuracy, but researchers and privacy advocates say there is no reliable scientific basis for such judgments and warn of discrimination and privacy harms. The chief executive said the system is only one part of lenders' and insurers' decision-making and that people can choose not to use it. Critics respond that an unequal balance of power makes consent difficult.

Company involved
DeepScore
AI system involved
DeepScore

6 source articles · read the reporting →

Hospitals use Epic AI to predict Covid-19 decline without validation

Dozens of hospitals across the US are using Epic's deterioration index AI system to predict which Covid-19 patients will become critically ill, despite the tool not being validated for the new disease. The rapid deployment during the pandemic bypassed normal testing and validation processes.

AI system involved
Deterioration index

9 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-OD83P526 May 2021

Google and HCA Healthcare partner to analyze 32 million patient records

Google Cloud has announced a partnership with HCA Healthcare to analyze around 32 million patient records. The anonymized data will be used to develop algorithms that could advise doctors on treatment options. Privacy advocates have raised concerns about the data sharing and the potential for AI to re-identify patients. HCA insists that patient-identifiable information will be stripped and that access will be tightly controlled.

Company involved
HCA Healthcare
AI system involved
Google Cloud

9 source articles · read the reporting →

Google Health's diabetic retinopathy AI faced real-world issues in Thailand clinics

Google Health deployed a deep-learning system to screen for diabetic retinopathy in 11 clinics across Thailand. The AI was highly accurate in lab tests but rejected over a fifth of eye scans in real-world conditions due to poor lighting and slow internet. Patients whose scans were rejected had to visit specialists at other clinics, causing inconvenience and frustration for nurses. Google Health is now working with local staff to improve the system's workflow.

Company involved
Google Health

10 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-L8981D29 Jan 2025

DeepSeek exposed user data via open ClickHouse database

Cloud security firm Wiz discovered a ClickHouse database belonging to DeepSeek that was open to the internet without authentication, containing over a million lines of logs with chat histories, secret keys and backend details. Wiz disclosed the breach to DeepSeek, which promptly locked down the database. The incident highlights security risks in rapidly deploying AI services.

Company involved
DeepSeek
AI system involved
DeepSeek-R1

5 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-3333OU22 Sep 2021

EviCore denied heart catheterization for patient using algorithm

In fall 2021, Little John Cupp's doctor requested a left heart catheterization exam. EviCore, a company hired by UnitedHealthcare, denied the request twice using an algorithm called 'the dial' that adjusts thresholds for review. The algorithm flagged the request for review, and EviCore's doctors determined it was not medically necessary. Cupp did not receive the procedure and his symptoms continued.

Company involved
EviCore (a Cigna company)
AI system involved
the dial

6 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-NFIWMI18 Nov 2023

Cigna StressWaves Test found unreliable and invalid in independent study

A study published in Scientific Reports evaluated the Cigna StressWaves Test (CSWT), an AI tool that claims to assess psychological stress from speech. The study found that the CSWT had poor test-retest reliability and poor validity compared to the Perceived Stress Scale. The authors warned that widespread availability of the tool could lead to misleading results and negative consequences for users making healthcare decisions. Cigna has not publicly responded to the findings.

Company involved
Cigna
AI system involved
Cigna StressWaves Test

4 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-O2M7OU21 Mar 2025

City analyst Michael Hewson cloned in AI deepfake scam on social media

A deepfake video using AI to impersonate City analyst Michael Hewson circulated on Facebook and Instagram, directing users to a WhatsApp group promising undervalued investments. The scam used fear-of-missing-out tactics to lure victims. Hewson publicly disavowed the video and reported it to Meta, expressing anger.

Company involved
Meta

4 source articles · read the reporting →

Leonardo AI misused to create nonconsensual explicit images of celebrities

Leonardo AI, an AI image-generating platform backed by Samsung, has been misused to create nonconsensual explicit images of celebrities. The platform allows users to generate images using user-generated Stable Diffusion models. Users bypassed ethical guardrails by misspelling celebrity names and using sexually suggestive terms. The misuse was reported by 404 Media.

Company involved
Leonardo AI
AI system involved
Leonardo AI

5 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-V79N1I12 Jun 2024

Stable Diffusion 3 Medium release generates anatomically incorrect images

Stability AI released Stable Diffusion 3 Medium, an AI image generator, on June 12, 2024. Users on Reddit reported that the model produces mangled human anatomy, such as deformed hands and bodies. The failures are attributed to aggressive NSFW content filtering in the training data that removed images of human anatomy. The company has not responded to the criticism.

Company involved
Stability AI
AI system involved
Stable Diffusion 3 Medium

4 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-0MLTX024 Jul 2021

Developer iperov releases DeepFaceLive real-time face-swap AI on GitHub

The developer iperov has published DeepFaceLive, a neural network for real-time face swapping, on GitHub. The tool automatically replaces a user's face in live streams and video calls with a nonexistent model or a celebrity, and the installation instructions are simple. The developer claims 95% of deepfakes on YouTube were made with the related DeepFaceLab. No specific harm is reported, but the article highlights the tool's potential for misuse.

Company involved
iperov
AI system involved
DeepFaceLive

7 source articles · read the reporting →

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