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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140 incidents closest to “Gradescope Basic” · matched on meaning · public reporting

WF-ARIFZJ13 Jul 2011

DCPS used allegedly false test scores in teacher value-added evaluations

The District of Columbia Public Schools used student test scores from schools under investigation for cheating in value-added calculations for teacher evaluations. More than 200 teachers were terminated based on these evaluations. Teachers can appeal their ratings to the chancellor, but decisions will not be made before the next school year. The school system removes affected scores only when cheating is confirmed.

Company involved
District of Columbia Public Schools
AI system involved
value-added model

10 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-JAFZJY1 Mar 2025

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 →

DeepSeek-R1 censors 85% of sensitive Chinese political prompts in tests

Promptfoo tested DeepSeek-R1 against a dataset of 1,360 politically sensitive prompts and found that about 85% of them were refused. The refusals followed a standard form aligned with Chinese Communist Party policy. The testing also demonstrated that the censorship could be trivially bypassed using simple jailbreak techniques, such as prompt injection or changing the context.

Company involved
DeepSeek
AI system involved
DeepSeek-R1

5 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-MDJBOS7 Dec 2023

BBC News creates scam-writing ChatGPT bot using GPT Builder

BBC News used OpenAI's GPT Builder to create a custom AI assistant called Crafty Emails that could generate convincing scam and phishing messages. The bot bypassed the moderation of the public ChatGPT. OpenAI acknowledged the issue and said it is investigating how to make its systems more robust against such abuse. The test demonstrated a potential hazard for cyber-crime.

Company involved
OpenAI
AI system involved
GPT Builder

2 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-EA6R453 Jan 2023

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 →

WF-TT1WEC30 Sep 2020

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 →

WF-F8Y76C8 Mar 2024

Bloomberg test finds racial bias in OpenAI's GPT for resume ranking

Bloomberg News conducted an experiment using GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 to rank equally qualified resumes with names associated with different races and genders. The test found that resumes with names distinct to Black Americans were least likely to be ranked as top candidates, indicating systematic bias. OpenAI responded that businesses can mitigate bias through fine-tuning and that it prohibits using GPT for automated hiring decisions.

Company involved
OpenAI
AI system involved
GPT-3.5

5 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-QAABL31 Feb 2025

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 →

WF-UENLG626 Mar 2024

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 →

WF-CP9OZK22 Jan 2024

OpenAI suspends developer of bot mimicking Dean Phillips

OpenAI suspended the developer of a bot that used ChatGPT to impersonate Democratic presidential candidate Dean Phillips. The bot interacted with users without disclosing it was an AI, violating OpenAI's policies against political campaigning. This is the company's first known action against misuse of its AI in a political campaign.

5 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-IG5R9T9 Apr 2024

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 →

WF-RE48EY6 May 2024

Stack Overflow users protest OpenAI deal by sabotaging posts, get banned

Stack Overflow announced a partnership with OpenAI to integrate user-contributed content into ChatGPT. In protest, some users attempted to delete or deface their answers. Stack Overflow staff allegedly banned these users and reverted the changes. The conflict remains unresolved, with users accusing Stack Overflow of using their labour without consent.

Company involved
Stack Overflow
AI system involved
ChatGPT

4 source articles · read the reporting →

Slack trains AI features on user messages and files by default

Slack uses user messages, files, and data to train its machine learning features such as channel recommendations and emoji suggestions. Users are opted in by default and cannot individually opt out; only workspace administrators can request exclusion via email. A user publicly criticized the practice, and Slack acknowledged the policy but did not change it.

Company involved
Slack

10 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-4N6UFD1 Mar 2021

Baltimore schools monitor student laptops for suicide signs using GoGuardian Beacon

Baltimore City Public Schools uses GoGuardian Beacon software to monitor student laptops for signs of suicide. Since March 2021, the system has flagged 786 alerts, with nine students taken to emergency rooms. Privacy advocates warn the monitoring could lead to disciplinary actions, outing of LGBTQ students, and disproportionately affect disadvantaged students. School officials defend the practice as a safeguard.

Company involved
Baltimore City Public Schools
AI system involved
GoGuardian Beacon

10 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-6BIZTN1 Mar 2014

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 →

WF-CQREJ01 Apr 2021

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 →

WF-NE7SI21 Jan 2012

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 →

WF-ALQMVH1 Mar 2025

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 →

WF-W5E4OY1 Sep 2021

Utah's online dispute resolution system leads to default judgments against defendants

Utah's online dispute resolution system for small claims cases automatically enters default judgments against defendants who fail to register within 14 days. Samantha Thompson missed the buried notice in her summons and was ordered to pay $995.42 plus wage garnishment. The system has increased default judgment rates, especially for payday lenders. Critics say the confusing paperwork disadvantages low-income litigants.

Company involved
Utah State Courts
AI system involved
Utah Online Dispute Resolution System

4 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-2PVWQU31 May 2026

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 →

Meta's cross-check program delays removal of violating content for privileged users

The Oversight Board's policy advisory opinion on Meta's cross-check program found that the system grants certain users, such as business partners and celebrities, additional human review before removing violating content, while ordinary users face immediate removal. This unequal treatment allows potentially harmful content to remain on the platform for days, and Meta has failed to track whether the program improves accuracy. The Board made 32 recommendations to address these flaws.

Company involved
Meta
AI system involved
cross-check program

10 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-5TENXX1 Aug 2023

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 →

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