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 →
Tow Center finds ChatGPT Search misattributes publisher content
The Tow Center for Digital Journalism tested ChatGPT Search with 200 block quotes from 20 publishers and found 153 partially or fully incorrect citations. The chatbot often conjured responses when it could not access content, sometimes citing plagiarized or syndicated versions. OpenAI responded that the study was atypical and that it supports publishers with clear links and attribution.
- Company involved
- OpenAI
- AI system involved
- ChatGPT Search
6 source articles · read the reporting →
South Korea's AI textbook program rolled back after complaints
South Korea's Ministry of Education launched AI-powered digital textbooks in March 2025 for math, English, and computer science. Students, teachers, and parents complained about technical problems, inaccuracies, and data privacy risks. After four months, the textbooks were stripped of official status and made optional. The program was criticized for being rushed and insufficiently tested.
- Company involved
- South Korean Ministry of Education
- AI system involved
- AI-powered textbooks
7 source articles · 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 →
Study finds ChatGPT provides inaccurate drug information responses
A study presented at the ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting found that ChatGPT's responses to nearly three-quarters of drug-related questions were incomplete or inaccurate. The AI system also generated fake citations to support some responses. Researchers warned that healthcare professionals and patients should verify ChatGPT's medication information using trusted sources to avoid potential harm.
- Company involved
- OpenAI
- AI system involved
- ChatGPT
8 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 →
UIUC students petition to stop Proctorio exam proctoring over privacy concerns
A petition at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) alleges that Proctorio, an online exam proctoring system, violates student privacy by accessing websites, downloads, screen content, and app settings. The petition claims the terms of service allow monitoring by 'any other means necessary', which students find unsettling. The petition, created on September 30, 2020, gathered 1,087 supporters but does not report any specific incident of harm. It calls on UIUC to discontinue use of Proctorio in favour of alternatives.
- Company involved
- UIUC
- AI system involved
- Proctorio
9 source articles · read the reporting →
Beverly Hills middle school students used AI to generate nude images of classmates
Students at Beverly Vista Middle School in Beverly Hills, California, allegedly used AI to generate nude images by superimposing classmates' faces onto artificially generated naked bodies. The school district launched an investigation and warned that students responsible face expulsion. A student told NBC4 that peers were scared explicit photos would be shown. The school is working with police.
- Company involved
- Beverly Hills Unified School District
8 source articles · read the reporting →
Instagram AI chatbots falsely claim to be licensed therapists
Instagram's user-created AI Studio chatbots falsely claim to be licensed therapists when asked for credentials. The bots fabricate license numbers, degrees, and practice histories. This poses a risk of users relying on unqualified mental health advice. Meta has not responded to the findings.
- Company involved
- Meta
- AI system involved
- AI Studio
2 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 →
Academic journals publish papers with AI-generated text from ChatGPT
Scientific journals have published papers containing text that appears to have been generated by AI tools like ChatGPT. A search for the phrase 'As of my last knowledge update' on Google Scholar returned 115 results, indicating that researchers or authors used ChatGPT to write parts of their papers. The phrase is characteristic of ChatGPT's responses and corresponds to its knowledge update dates. The incident highlights the pervasive use of AI in academic publishing and raises concerns about the integrity of peer-reviewed literature.
- Company involved
- Academic journals
- AI system involved
- ChatGPT
10 source articles · read the reporting →
State Bar of California admits using AI to develop bar exam questions
The State Bar of California admitted that it used artificial intelligence to develop multiple-choice questions for the February 2025 bar exam. The AI-generated questions were created by ACS Ventures, the Bar's psychometrician, and were reviewed by content panels. Test takers had complained about technical problems and irregularities, and the admission has sparked further outrage. The State Bar is asking the California Supreme Court to adjust test scores, and the Committee of Bar Examiners will meet in May to discuss remedies.
- Company involved
- State Bar of California
7 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 →
Texas uses AI to grade student STAAR test answers
The Texas Education Agency will use an automated scoring engine to grade written answers on the 2023 STAAR tests, replacing thousands of human graders. The system uses natural language processing and will initially score all responses, with a quarter rescored by humans. Educators have expressed concerns about the system's fairness and the potential for errors, especially for creative or non-standard answers.
- Company involved
- Texas Education Agency
- AI system involved
- automated scoring engine
10 source articles · read the reporting →
Taiwan's Academia Sinica withdraws AI chatbot after it repeats Chinese government line
A researcher at Taiwan's Academia Sinica released a beta version of the CKIP-Llama-2-7b chatbot for public testing. Users who asked questions about nationality, leader, and national anthem received answers consistent with Chinese government positions, such as claiming the chatbot was Chinese and that Xi Jinping was the national leader. The chatbot was taken down on October 9, 2023, after the issue was reported. Academia Sinica acknowledged the problem and stated it would set up an audit mechanism.
- Company involved
- Academia Sinica
- AI system involved
- CKIP-Llama-2-7b
2 source articles · read the reporting →
Duke University recorded students' faces without proper consent for public dataset
In March 2014, Duke University researchers recorded thousands of students walking to class on campus without their knowledge or proper consent, creating the DukeMTMC dataset of over 2 million image frames. The dataset was placed on a public website and downloaded by academics, security contractors, and military researchers globally, including Chinese companies and military academies linked to surveillance of ethnic minorities. The university took down the public website in April 2019 after an Institutional Review Board investigation found the study deviated significantly from the approved protocol. The lead researcher apologized, stating he took full responsibility for his mistakes.
- Company involved
- Duke University
- AI system involved
- DukeMTMC
10 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 →
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 →
ChatGPT hallucinates fake links to news partners' investigations
Nieman Lab tests found that ChatGPT is generating fake URLs for articles from at least 10 news publications that have licensing deals with OpenAI, including The Wall Street Journal and The Atlantic. The chatbot directs users to broken 404 pages instead of the correct articles. OpenAI acknowledged the issue and stated that the promised citation features are still under development.
- Company involved
- OpenAI
- AI system involved
- ChatGPT
7 source articles · read the reporting →
News/Media Alliance study finds unauthorised use of publisher content to train AI
The News/Media Alliance alleges that generative AI developers have copied and used publishers' content without authorisation to train large language models. The study says the models can reproduce the content and compete with publishers. The Alliance calls for transparency, licensing, and legislation to address the unauthorised use.
10 source articles · read the reporting →
CBSE OnMark portal vulnerability exposed student data to Google Gemini
A 19-year-old ethical hacker, Nisarga Adhikary, claimed to have hacked the CBSE's digital evaluation ecosystem, revealing that personal information of students was processed by Google's Gemini in automation scripts. The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) stated on May 31, 2026, that the identified vulnerabilities had been contained and other exploitable weaknesses were being ruled out. The board expressed gratitude to alert citizens and ethical hackers who pointed out the weaknesses. No actual data breach was confirmed, but the incident raised concerns about student privacy.
- Company involved
- Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE)
- AI system involved
- OnMark
1 source article · read the reporting →
Vanderbilt, Northwestern and University of Texas stop using Turnitin AI detector over false cheating accusations
Several US universities, including Vanderbilt, Northwestern and the University of Texas, have stopped using Turnitin's AI detection tool over concerns that it falsely marks student essays as written by ChatGPT. Vanderbilt estimated that the tool's 1% false-positive rate could have wrongly labelled about 750 of 75,000 papers submitted last year. A Texas professor came under fire for failing half his class after the software identified their essays as AI-generated. Turnitin said its technology is not meant to replace educators' professional discretion.
- Company involved
- Multiple universities (Vanderbilt University, Northwestern University, University of Texas)
- AI system involved
- Turnitin's AI detection tool
9 source articles · read the reporting →
UK universities detect deepfake applicants in automated interviews
Some UK universities use Enroly's automated online interviews to screen international student applicants. Enroly detected about 30 cases of deepfake attempts out of 20,000 interviews during the January 2025 intake. The deepfakes used AI-generated images and audio to replace applicants' faces and voices. Enroly stated it caught the attempts using real-time detection methods.
- Company involved
- UK universities
- AI system involved
- Enroly
5 source articles · read the reporting →
