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 “PGY First Look” · matched on meaning · public reporting

OpenAI and Google AI autocompletes AOC photo in bikini

Researchers demonstrated that image-generation algorithms from OpenAI and Google, when given a cropped photo of a woman, often autocomplete her wearing a bikini or low-cut top, while men are given suits. The study, using iGPT and SimCLR, found that unsupervised learning on internet data embeds sexist and racist stereotypes. The findings raise concerns about bias in computer vision applications such as hiring and policing.

Company involved
OpenAI, Google
AI system involved
iGPT, SimCLR

1 source article · read the reporting →

WF-J8EHEE23 Sep 2021

Xpeng P7 Collides with Truck During NGP Assisted Driving, Driver Injured

On 23 September 2021, a Xpeng P7 owner in China was using the NGP automatic navigation assisted driving system when the vehicle failed to identify a flatbed truck ahead and collided with its rear. The driver, who trusted the system to brake automatically, sustained slight injuries. Xpeng Motors stated that the system's functions were operating normally before the crash and that further analysis would be conducted. Experts suggested the visual camera may have misjudged the distance due to the truck's unusual shape.

Company involved
Xpeng Motors
AI system involved
NGP automatic navigation assisted driving system

1 source article · read the reporting →

Kimsuky used ChatGPT to create fake military ID for phishing

The hacking group Kimsuky allegedly used ChatGPT to generate a counterfeit South Korean military identification card. This fake ID was used in a phishing email that contained links to malware designed to extract data from victims' devices. Targets included journalists, human rights activists and researchers. The incident highlights the growing misuse of AI for cybercrime.

Company involved
Kimsuky
AI system involved
ChatGPT

6 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-RG29E91 Jul 2025

Researchers hide prompts to manipulate AI peer review

Nikkei found hidden prompts in 17 preprints on arXiv that instructed AI tools to give the papers positive reviews and ignore negatives. The manuscripts were linked to 14 academic institutions, including Waseda University, KAIST, Peking University, the National University of Singapore, the University of Washington and Columbia University. At least one paper was set to be withdrawn, while some researchers defended the prompts as a check on reviewers who improperly use AI.

Company involved
Multiple academic institutions
AI system involved
arXiv

1 source article · read the reporting →

Google Photos AI panorama creates giant head in ski photo

Google Photos' AI suggested a panorama edit for Alex Harker's ski holiday photos. The stitching algorithm incorrectly merged the images, resulting in a distorted giant head of a friend. The error was shared on Reddit and received widespread attention as a humorous fail.

Company involved
Google
AI system involved
Google Photos

5 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-JFGJNJ1 Nov 2025

Grok and Google Lens AI overviews falsely claim fake images show Huntingdon train attack

Grok and Google Lens AI overviews have been claiming that AI-generated images of the Huntingdon train attack are real. Grok told users one image was a genuine photo, while Google Lens claimed it was a still from a BBC news report. The AI systems also linked unrelated videos to the attack. Full Fact contacted Google, which told users they can provide feedback on errors. xAI has not yet responded.

Company involved
xAI and Google
AI system involved
Grok and Google Lens AI overviews

4 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-WTDNQM25 Jul 2024

OpenAI's SearchGPT Demo Gives Incorrect Festival Dates

OpenAI announced a prototype AI search tool called SearchGPT. In a prerecorded demo, the tool listed An Appalachian Summer Festival as occurring from July 29 to August 16, but the actual festival ran from June 29 to July 27. The dates provided were for the box office closure. The error highlights the tendency of generative AI models to provide incorrect information.

Company involved
OpenAI
AI system involved
SearchGPT

2 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-9KY8EL19 Oct 2019

Outback Steakhouse franchise tests Presto Vision to monitor staff and guests

Evergreen Restaurant Group, a franchisee of Outback Steakhouse, has begun testing Presto Vision, a computer vision system that analyses surveillance camera footage to track employee performance and guest behaviour. The system compiles metrics on service, wait times, and customer turnover, which managers receive by email. Employees say they were not informed about the technology, and researchers have raised concerns about workplace stress, job losses, and data sharing with parent companies.

Company involved
Evergreen Restaurant Group
AI system involved
Presto Vision

8 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 →

WF-XYG9F420 Jun 2020

Duke University's PULSE AI upscaler turns Barack Obama white due to racial bias

Duke University researchers developed PULSE, an AI tool that upscales blurry face photos using Nvidia's StyleGAN model. When tested, it generated a white face from a pixelated image of Barack Obama, revealing racial bias. The bias stemmed from StyleGAN's training data being predominantly white and the evaluation dataset CelebA being 90% white. The researchers acknowledged the issue and updated their paper, while Nvidia stated it is working to mitigate bias.

Company involved
Duke University
AI system involved
PULSE

2 source articles · read the reporting →

Walgreens deploys digital cooler doors with ads from Cooler Screens

Walgreens is rolling out digital cooler doors from Cooler Screens that display ads before showing the cooler contents. The system tracks when customers stop in front of the doors but claims to be identity-blind. Customers have expressed confusion and annoyance on social media. Walgreens says the screens provide relevant product information.

Company involved
Walgreens
AI system involved
Cooler Screens

10 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-CKAGAU15 Oct 2025

Yasiel Puig Valdes v. All3Media America, LLC, et al. (SCA California (Los Angeles)): AI-hallucinated content in court filing, Referral

The AI generated fake legal citations that were included in a court filing, potentially harming the plaintiff's case.

AI system involved
ChatGPT

1 source article · read the reporting →

WF-Q99LTG1 Aug 2020

College student uses GPT-3 to create fake blog that reaches #1 on Hacker News

Liam Porr, a college student at UC Berkeley, used OpenAI's GPT-3 language model to generate a fake blog under a fake name. One of the posts reached the number-one spot on Hacker News, fooling tens of thousands of readers. Porr later confessed and retired the blog after two weeks. The experiment demonstrated the ease of creating convincing AI-generated content.

AI system involved
GPT-3

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 →

WF-ZQ3YFL1 Dec 2020

Retorio AI personality test swayed by candidate appearance in BR experiment

Bayerischer Rundfunk journalists conducted experiments with Retorio's AI video interview analysis tool. The AI, which assesses personality traits from short videos, produced different scores when the same actress changed her appearance (glasses, headscarf, wig) or the video background and lighting were altered. The start-up Retorio acknowledged that the AI considers external image, similar to a human interviewer. Experts warned that such software could perpetuate stereotypes and unfairly affect job candidates.

AI system involved
Retorio AI

10 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-5M89U31 Jan 2026

Elon Musk asks X users to upload medical data to train Grok chatbot

Elon Musk has told X users to upload medical images to the platform so that the AI chatbot Grok can learn to interpret them. He claimed Grok can give medical diagnoses, sometimes better than doctors, but experts have raised concerns about accuracy and privacy. The article reports cases where Grok misread a tuberculosis case and a mammogram. xAI, which owns X, responded to Fortune: 'Legacy Media Lies.'

Company involved
X
AI system involved
Grok

6 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-QJLLJJ14 Jul 2026

In re Rosslyn2016, LLC, et al. (S.D. Texas (Bankruptcy)): AI-hallucinated content in court filing, CLE on generative AI; Civil Contempt;…

The AI generated fabricated legal citations that were submitted to the bankruptcy court.

1 source article · read the reporting →

WF-E49EWD9 Sep 2026

Beus Gilbert PLLC v. Brigham Young University et al. (D. Utah): AI-hallucinated content in court filing, Two AI-ethics CLE courses;…

The AI system generated fake legal citations that were included in a court filing, misleading the court and opposing counsel.

1 source article · read the reporting →

Tourists rescued after following ChatGPT route in Tatra mountains

Three Polish tourists used ChatGPT to plan a hiking route from Hala Gąsienicowa to Dolina Pięciu Stawów in the Tatra mountains. The AI recommended a difficult route through Przełęcz Krzyżne, which proved too dangerous in winter conditions with limited visibility and icy rocks. The tourists called the TOPR rescue service and were safely brought down. A TOPR rescuer advised against relying on ChatGPT or Google Maps for mountain route planning.

Company involved
OpenAI
AI system involved
ChatGPT

2 source articles · read the reporting →

Perth hospital group bans ChatGPT after doctor used it for a patient discharge summary

South Metropolitan Health Service, which runs five hospitals in Perth, ordered staff to stop using ChatGPT for work involving patient information after an email said some staff had used the AI chatbot to write medical notes. The service later clarified that only one doctor had used the tool to generate a patient discharge summary and that no confidential patient information had been breached. The Australian Medical Association has called for national regulations to ensure a human is involved in AI-assisted health decisions.

Company involved
South Metropolitan Health Service
AI system involved
ChatGPT

6 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-JBCO7J24 Oct 2023

Four commercial large language models perpetuate race-based medical misconceptions

A study published in npj Digital Medicine tested four commercial large language models (Bard, ChatGPT, GPT-4, and Claude) for their tendency to propagate discredited race-based medical beliefs. When asked about kidney function, lung capacity, and skin thickness, the models sometimes endorsed debunked racial differences, particularly affecting Black patients. The study concludes that these biases pose a potential hazard and urges caution before using such models in clinical decision-making.

Company involved
Not named in article (refers to commercial LLMs generically as Google's Bard, OpenAI's ChatGPT and GPT-4, and Anthropic's Claude)
AI system involved
Bard, ChatGPT, GPT-4, Claude

6 source articles · read the reporting →

IRCC uses AI triage for Temporary Resident Visa applications

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) uses an AI system called Advanced Analytics to triage Temporary Resident Visa applications from India and China. The system categorizes applications into tiers, with Tier 1 approved automatically and others sent to human officers. Critics allege the system lacks transparency and may introduce bias, leading to visa refusals without clear rationale. The author, a Canadian immigration lawyer, is filing Federal Court cases on behalf of clients affected by refusals.

Company involved
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC)
AI system involved
Advanced Analytics Triage of Overseas Temporary Resident Visa Applications

10 source articles · read the reporting →

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