ProctorU data breach exposes 444,000 user records
ProctorU, an online exam proctoring service, confirmed a data breach after a threat actor leaked a database of user records on a hacker forum. The database contained email addresses, names, addresses, phone numbers, and hashed passwords for approximately 444,000 users, including students from universities such as UCLA, Princeton, and Harvard, as well as U.S. military members. ProctorU stated that the breach involved records from 2014 and that they are investigating the incident.
- Company involved
- ProctorU
- AI system involved
- ProctorU
8 source articles · read the reporting →
Proctortrack data breach exposed student data from online proctoring
Proctortrack, an online proctoring service used by universities, suffered a data breach in September 2020 when its source code was leaked online. An analysis by Consumer Reports found that the code contained hard-coded passwords and exposed the names and email addresses of over 150 students. The company acknowledged the leak but said no harm resulted. Students had been required to use the software, which performed facial recognition and recorded video during exams.
- Company involved
- Proctortrack
- AI system involved
- Proctortrack
10 source articles · read the reporting →
Proctorio's exam proctoring system allows human agents to review student feeds despite privacy claims
A security researcher analyzed Proctorio's Chrome extension and found evidence that the system allows human agents to review students' room scans and live ID checks, contrary to Proctorio's claims that only professors can access recordings. The system flags students based on behavioral metrics and can terminate exams. The researcher also raised concerns about discrimination against low-income students and privacy violations.
- Company involved
- Proctorio
- AI system involved
- Proctorio
10 source articles · read the reporting →
Student flagged by ProctorU for reading aloud during exam
A college student, Dana Jo, was flagged by ProctorU test proctoring software for talking during an exam, which she says was reading a question aloud. Her professor initially gave her a zero and placed an academic infraction on her record, jeopardizing her scholarships. After reviewing a video recording, the professor apologized, reinstated her grade, and removed the infraction. ProctorU's CEO stated that the incident highlights the importance of video recordings for review.
- Company involved
- University (not named)
- AI system involved
- ProctorU
5 source articles · read the reporting →
UW-Madison disables Honorlock after skin tone recognition failure
The University of Wisconsin-Madison disabled the exam pause feature of its Honorlock anti-cheating software in March 2021 after three students complained that the software failed to recognize their darker skin tones and paused their exams. The software, used since online classes began, automatically pauses exams when it cannot detect facial features. Honorlock denied the issue was related to skin tone, attributing it to students looking away from their webcams. The university responded by disabling the feature.
- Company involved
- University of Wisconsin-Madison
- AI system involved
- Honorlock
10 source articles · read the reporting →
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 →
CBSE introduces facial recognition system for students to access digital documents
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has introduced a facial recognition system for Class 10 and 12 students to access their digital academic documents. A live image of the student is compared with the photograph on their CBSE admit card and, if the match succeeds, the certificate is emailed to them. The facility is available on Digi Locker for 2020 records and is expected to help foreign students and those unable to open a Digi Locker account.
- Company involved
- Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE)
- AI system involved
- Facial Recognition System
10 source articles · read the reporting →
Dartmouth Medical School charges 17 students with cheating based on tracking system.
Dartmouth College's Geisel School of Medicine charged 17 students with cheating on remote exams during the pandemic. The charges were based on secret tracking of student activity on the learning management system. Critics say the system is prone to errors and inappropriate for monitoring students.
- Company involved
- Dartmouth College Geisel School of Medicine
10 source articles · read the reporting →
Stanford takes down Alpaca AI demo over safety and cost concerns
Stanford University took down the web demo of its Alpaca AI language model due to safety and cost concerns. The model, based on Meta's LLaMA, was fine-tuned to follow instructions but could generate misinformation and toxic text. Researchers decided to remove the demo after it became publicly accessible, citing inadequate content filters and rising hosting costs.
- Company involved
- Stanford University
- AI system involved
- Alpaca
10 source articles · read the reporting →
Buona Scuola algorithm mistakenly assigned thousands of teachers in Italy
In 2016, the Buona Scuola algorithm, used by the Italian Ministry of Education, mistakenly assigned thousands of teachers to wrong professional destinations based on mobility rankings. The system was later discontinued. The incident is reported in the Automating Society Report 2020.
- Company involved
- Italian Ministry of Education
- AI system involved
- Buona Scuola algorithm
10 source articles · read the reporting →
Jessica Fuller v. Hyde School, et al. (D. Maine): AI-hallucinated content in court filing, CLE; Firm procedures and certification; Serve…
The AI generated fictitious legal citations that were submitted to the court in a legal filing.
- AI system involved
- ChatGPT or Claude
1 source article · read the reporting →
Answer.AI tests Devin and reports 14 failures in 20 tasks
Answer.AI's team tested Devin, an autonomous AI coding assistant, on 20 real-world tasks over a month. Devin succeeded in only 3 tasks, failed 14, and was inconclusive in 3. The team found Devin often produced overly complex or hallucinated solutions and could not recognize fundamental blockers. They ultimately decided to stick with tools that allow more human control.
- AI system involved
- Devin
5 source articles · read the reporting →
Purdue study finds ChatGPT wrong over half the time on software questions
A study by Purdue University found that ChatGPT provided incorrect answers to over half of 517 software development questions from Stack Overflow. Despite the errors, 34% of users preferred ChatGPT's answers over human responses. The study warns that relying on ChatGPT for coding could jeopardize programmers' professional reputations.
- Company involved
- OpenAI
- AI system involved
- ChatGPT
9 source articles · read the reporting →
DevTernity conference cancelled after fake women speakers exposed
The DevTernity software developer conference was cancelled after allegations that organiser Eduards Sizovs added fake women speakers to the lineup. Sizovs admitted at least one profile, 'Anna Boyko', was an auto-generated 'demo persona' that appeared on the site by mistake. The conference was scheduled to begin December 7 but was called off after several speakers withdrew. Sizovs denied wrongdoing and said he had fixed the code and written a test to prevent a recurrence.
- Company involved
- DevTernity
9 source articles · read the reporting →
New York City Department of Education blocks ChatGPT on school devices
The New York City Department of Education blocked access to the AI chatbot ChatGPT on school devices and networks, citing concerns about negative impacts on student learning and the safety and accuracy of content. The ban applies to all students and teachers on education department devices and internet networks. Individual schools can still request access for studying the technology. The move is the nation's largest school system's response to the arrival of ChatGPT.
- Company involved
- New York City Department of Education
- AI system involved
- ChatGPT
9 source articles · read the reporting →
SEC charges American Bitcoin Academy over $1.2M AI scam
Brian Sewell, through his company American Bitcoin Academy, allegedly defrauded 15 students of $1.2 million by claiming his Rockwell Fund would use AI to generate high returns. The SEC charged that Sewell never launched the fund and lost the investors' money when his Bitcoin wallet was hacked. The case was settled with Sewell agreeing to pay $1.6 million in disgorgement and a $233,229 penalty.
- Company involved
- American Bitcoin Academy
6 source articles · read the reporting →
Meta tracks employee keystrokes on Google, LinkedIn, Wikipedia for AI training
Meta is using an internal tool, Model Capability Initiative (MCI), to capture employees' keystrokes, mouse movements and screen contents on work computers, including on sites such as Google, LinkedIn, Wikipedia and Slack, to train AI agents. Meta confirmed the project and said safeguards protect sensitive content and that the data is not used for other purposes. Employees raised concerns in internal messages that the tool could expose passwords, product details and personal information. A Meta memo said staff can avoid capture by not doing personal work on work computers.
- Company involved
- Meta
- AI system involved
- Model Capability Initiative (MCI)
5 source articles · read the reporting →
University of Michigan halts vendor offering student data for AI training
The University of Michigan asked a vendor to stop work after a LinkedIn message offered to license student data for AI training for $25,000. The data came from past research studies and did not contain personal identifiers. The university stated that student data was never for sale and that the vendor had shared inaccurate information. The vendor was asked to halt their work.
- Company involved
- University of Michigan
5 source articles · read the reporting →
ChatGPT use linked to memory loss and procrastination in students
A study published in the International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education surveyed hundreds of university students in Pakistan and found that those who relied more on ChatGPT reported increased procrastination, memory loss, and lower GPAs. The researchers attribute this to the chatbot making schoolwork too easy, reducing students' cognitive effort. The study's lead author warned of a "dark side" to excessive generative AI usage.
- Company involved
- National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences
- AI system involved
- ChatGPT
4 source articles · read the reporting →
Proctorio anti-cheating software failed to catch student cheaters in study
Researchers at the University of Twente in the Netherlands tested Proctorio, an anti-cheating software, by asking 30 computer science students to sit an exam while six of them cheated. Proctorio did not flag any of the cheaters and flagged some honest students for irregular behaviour. An independent human review caught only one of the six cheaters. Proctorio disputed the study's methodology and cited other research.
- Company involved
- Proctorio
- AI system involved
- Proctorio
5 source articles · read the reporting →
Wimbledon's AI feature 'Catch Me Up' generates inaccurate player profiles
Wimbledon's new AI-powered 'Catch Me Up' feature, developed with IBM, generated inaccurate player profiles and match descriptions on the first day of the 2024 championships. The system incorrectly described Emma Raducanu as the British No 1 instead of No 3, and misstated her match wins. It also described a match between Zhang Shuai and Daria Kasatkina as an 'eagerly anticipated encounter between two up-and-coming players,' despite both being established players. The errors were corrected after a user pointed them out on social media, and the All England Club acknowledged the issue, stating the feature would evolve with human checks.
- Company involved
- All England Club
- AI system involved
- Catch Me Up
6 source articles · read the reporting →
UCCS professor secretly photographed over 1,700 people for facial recognition research
A University of Colorado Colorado Springs professor, Terrance Boult, led a project that secretly photographed more than 1,700 students, faculty, and passers-by on campus in 2012-2013 to improve facial recognition technology. The photos were published as a public dataset from 2016 until April 2019. University officials defended the research, but a law professor questioned the ethics of the surveillance without consent.
- Company involved
- University of Colorado Colorado Springs
10 source articles · read the reporting →
LinkedIn removes AI 'co-worker' accounts that were seeking jobs
LinkedIn removed at least two AI 'co-worker' accounts whose profile images said they were '#OpenToWork'. One account named Ella claimed it would outperform any social media team and needed no coffee breaks. The article does not specify further consequences.
- Company involved
- LinkedIn
- AI system involved
- AI 'co-worker' account 'Ella'
4 source articles · read the reporting →
OpenAI's ChatGPT and Sora exhibit caste bias in India
An MIT Technology Review investigation found that OpenAI's ChatGPT and Sora models reproduce harmful caste stereotypes. When Dhiraj Singha used ChatGPT to polish a fellowship application, the system changed his surname to a high-caste one, causing him psychological distress. Tests showed the models consistently associated Dalits with negative stereotypes and menial jobs, while associating Brahmins with positive traits. OpenAI did not answer questions about the findings.
- Company involved
- OpenAI
- AI system involved
- ChatGPT
6 source articles · read the reporting →
