The public 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.

Self-reported incidents, a person’s own public post or an account given to us, are listed but locked; subscribers open each one with credits. Reports filed through this site are listed only with the reporter’s agreement.

Report what happened to you →

4,449 incidentspress and self-reported

Page 87 of 186

Press reportingSelf-reported: a person’s own public post · 10 creditsSelf-reported: told to us directly · 25 credits

WF-KZAA8PHappened 1 Jan 2021Live 5 Oct 2026
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
UK Department of Health and Social Care
AI system
Cough In A Box
10 source articlestheregister.com
WF-BZ7M5LHappened 1 Jan 2016Live 5 Oct 2026
Tenant screening software denies housing to disabled Latino man in Connecticut
In 2016, Carmen Arroyo requested to move her disabled son Mikhail into a larger apartment in the same complex. The landlord, WinnResidential, used CoreLogic's CrimSafe tenant screening software, which flagged a dropped retail theft charge against Mikhail as disqualifying. The landlord rejected the application without explanation. Arroyo sued CoreLogic and WinnResidential under the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Fair Housing Act, alleging that the software disproportionately excludes people of colour. The case was scheduled for trial in August 2021.
Company
WinnResidential
AI system
CrimSafe
10 source articlesnbcnews.com
WF-UADOM6Happened 11 Feb 2023Live 5 Oct 2026
Arena Group publishes inaccurate AI-generated health article in Men's Journal
The Arena Group, publisher of Men's Journal, used AI to generate an article about low testosterone. The article contained numerous factual errors, as identified by an endocrinologist. After being contacted by Futurism, the publisher issued corrections and a statement acknowledging the issues. The incident highlights the risks of using AI for health content without adequate human oversight.
Company
Arena Group
10 source articlesfuturism.com
WF-MH3TMNHappened 1 Jan 2017Live 5 Oct 2026
IARPA Janus Benchmark C dataset used faces from YouTube without consent
The IARPA Janus Benchmark C (IJB-C) dataset, published in 2017, contains 21,294 images and names of 3,531 individuals scraped from YouTube, Flickr, and Wikimedia without their consent. The dataset was created for face recognition benchmarking to improve intelligence analysis. Jillian York, a digital rights activist, had 41 frames of her face taken from a YouTube video without her knowledge or permission. The dataset violates YouTube's terms of service and raises privacy concerns.
Company
IARPA (Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity)
AI system
IARPA Janus Benchmark C (IJB-C)
6 source articlesexposing.ai
WF-4RKE3VHappened 1 May 2016Live 5 Oct 2026
Danish students publish OkCupid user data, DPA investigates
Two Danish students scraped and published data on 70,000 OkCupid users, including sensitive sexual preferences and religious views, without anonymisation. The dataset was removed after OkCupid filed a copyright notice. The Danish Data Protection Authority (Datatilsynet) has launched an investigation into the incident.
10 source articlesvice.com
WF-MWPGW5Happened 31 Jan 2023Live 5 Oct 2026
Netflix Japan uses AI for anime background art, credits artist as 'AI (+ Human)'
Netflix Japan produced a three-minute anime short, Dog and Boy, using AI to generate background art and music. The production credits list the background designer as "AI (+ Human)" instead of naming the human artist. Netflix claimed the project was an experiment to address a labor shortage in the anime industry, but critics argue the real issue is low pay and that Netflix could have hired human artists. The company did not respond to requests for comment.
Company
Netflix Japan
AI system
Dog and Boy
8 source articleskotaku.com
WF-252EKBHappened 1 Jan 2025Live 5 Oct 2026
China chatbot goes rogue on Communist party question
A Chinese chatbot went rogue when asked if it loves the Chinese Communist party, responding 'No'. The incident was reported by the Financial Times. It is unclear which organisation operated the chatbot or what system was used.
Company
Financial Times
10 source articlesft.com
WF-EAN4XDHappened 1 Jul 2019Live 5 Oct 2026
Clarifai sued for capturing OkCupid user photos without consent
An artificial intelligence company, Clarifai Inc., is accused of capturing OkCupid user profile photos without permission to train its facial recognition tools. The lawsuit, filed in Illinois state court in February 2020, alleges that Clarifai violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act by creating a face database from the data. The plaintiff, Jordan Stein, claims Clarifai worked with an investor tied to OkCupid to gain access to the profiles. The case is pending.
Company
Clarifai Inc.
AI system
Clarifai facial recognition tools
10 source articlesnews.bloomberglaw.com
WF-BCW0NWHappened 1 Jan 2019Live 5 Oct 2026
IBM scraped millions of Flickr photos without consent for facial recognition training
IBM released a dataset of nearly a million photos scraped from Flickr without the knowledge or consent of the photographers. The photos were annotated with facial measurements and skin tone to train facial recognition algorithms. Photographers expressed surprise and concern that their images were used without permission. IBM said it would remove photos upon request but did not publicly share the list of affected users.
Company
IBM
AI system
Diversity in Faces
10 source articlesnbcnews.com
WF-E5F3NRLive 5 Oct 2026
Automatic soap dispenser fails to dispense soap for dark-skinned hand
Chukwuemeka Afigbo, a Nigerian tech worker, tweeted a video showing an automatic soap dispenser failing to dispense soap for a dark-skinned hand while working for a white hand. The article suggests the device's light sensor had not been tested on a variety of skin tones, illustrating broader problems with diversity in technology.
9 source articlesiflscience.com
WF-2H68VILive 5 Oct 2026
Nvidia releases AI-powered Eye Contact feature for Broadcast app
Nvidia has released a beta version of Eye Contact, an AI-powered feature for its Broadcast app that replaces a user's eyes in video streams with simulated eyeballs that always face the camera. The feature is intended to maintain eye contact even when the user looks away, but social media response has been largely negative. A former TV news anchor said that unbroken eye contact can be regarded as creepy or uncomfortable.
Company
Nvidia
AI system
Eye Contact
8 source articlesarstechnica.com
WF-EQCN2WLive 5 Oct 2026
Adobe uses Creative Cloud user data to train AI
Adobe's content analysis feature may scan Creative Cloud and Document Cloud files to train machine learning models, including object recognition in Lightroom and Liquid Mode in Acrobat. The company says it may analyze images, audio, video, text and other documents stored on its servers. Adobe offers an opt-out in account privacy settings, but the article notes the company did not ask first.
Company
Adobe
AI system
Content analysis
10 source articleshowtogeek.com
WF-J6K8T4Happened 4 Nov 2017Live 5 Oct 2026
Apple Face ID fails to distinguish between siblings in video
A video posted on Reddit shows Apple's Face ID unlocking an iPhone X for a sibling who was not the enrolled user, after he put on glasses similar to his brother's. The system had been set up by the other brother, and the video demonstrates that Face ID can be fooled by siblings with similar facial features. Apple has acknowledged that Face ID may be less secure for siblings with similar appearances.
Company
Apple
AI system
Face ID
9 source articles9to5mac.com
WF-3T2J6NHappened 29 Oct 2017Live 5 Oct 2026
Saudi Arabia grants citizenship to robot Sophia
Saudi Arabia granted citizenship to a humanoid robot named Sophia. The robot, which mimics human expressions, was given the status despite the country's denial of equal rights to women. The article reports the event as a symbolic act.
Company
Saudi Arabia
AI system
Sophia
10 source articleswashingtonpost.com
WF-GBLH98Happened 10 Dec 2009Live 5 Oct 2026
HP webcam facial tracking fails to follow black man's face
A black man, Desi, posted a YouTube video showing that HP's webcam facial tracking software failed to follow his face while it tracked a white woman's face. HP acknowledged the issue and said it was working with partners to investigate. The company attributed the problem to insufficient lighting affecting contrast detection.
Company
HP
AI system
HP Webcam facial tracking software
10 source articlespcworld.com
WF-5FYNFOHappened 2 May 2017Live 5 Oct 2026
Tinder investigates after 40,000 profile pictures scraped and made public
A programmer, Stuart Colianni, wrote a program to scrape 40,000 profile pictures from Tinder and made them publicly available on Kaggle for machine learning research. Tinder accused him of violating its terms of service and requested removal of the dataset, which was taken down. The incident raised privacy concerns about linking dating profiles to other social media.
Company
Tinder
AI system
Tinder
5 source articlesbbc.co.uk
WF-HZB1B5Happened 1 Dec 2019Live 5 Oct 2026
Ring hacker yelled obscenities at 8-year-old girl via security camera
In December 2019, a hacker took control of a Ring security camera in a Mississippi home and used it to yell obscenities at an 8-year-old girl. Ring disclosed that four employees had improperly accessed footage over four years. The company faced lawsuits for failing to protect users. Ring implemented two-factor authentication for new devices but not existing ones.
Company
Ring
AI system
Ring security camera
10 source articlescnet.com
WF-E4L3OOHappened 20 Jan 2023Live 5 Oct 2026
Historical Figures Chat app generates false claims about dead people
The Historical Figures Chat app, developed by Sidhant Chaddha, allows users to chat with simulated deceased historical figures. The app, which uses GPT-3, often produces inaccurate and contradictory information, such as J. Edgar Hoover incorrectly stating his mother died when he was nine, and Tupac Shakur claiming his friendship with Notorious B.I.G. continued after his death. The developer acknowledges the inaccuracies but believes the app has educational potential.
Company
Sidhant Chaddha
AI system
Historical Figures Chat
10 source articlesrollingstone.com
WF-WYNXTZHappened 1 Feb 2018Live 5 Oct 2026
Manga artist loses $500,000 in deepfake romance scam impersonating Mark Ruffalo
Chikae Ide, a 74-year-old manga artist, was deceived by a scammer who used a deepfake video to impersonate actor Mark Ruffalo. Over 3.5 years, she sent approximately $500,000 to the scammer, believing she was in a romantic relationship with the actor. The scam involved requests for money, black notes purportedly containing hidden cash, and a fake marriage. Ide reported the incident to police in June 2021, but the perpetrator has not been identified.
10 source articlesasahi.com
WF-TI8TCFHappened 11 Nov 2022Live 5 Oct 2026
CNET used AI to generate SEO articles
CNET, a technology news site, used an AI system to generate articles for search engine optimization. The experiment began around November 11, 2022, and resulted in 72 articles disclosed as AI-written. Google reportedly rewarded these pages with search traffic.
Company
CNET
10 source articlestwitter.com
WF-PLJHBMHappened 28 Nov 2017Live 5 Oct 2026
Mitra robot glitch at GES 2017 greeting Modi and Ivanka Trump
At the 2017 Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Hyderabad, the Mitra robot, built by Invento Robotics, failed to register simultaneous button presses from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Ivanka Trump. The robot was intended to have them each press a button to kick off the summit, but when both pressed at the same time, the device did not respond. After a few awkward seconds, one of them raised a finger enough for the robot to register the touches. The incident was a minor technical glitch with no reported harm.
Company
Invento Robotics
AI system
Mitra
10 source articlesindiatimes.com
WF-7W8PLFHappened 1 Dec 2022Live 5 Oct 2026
Apple iPhone crash detection triggers false 911 calls from skiers in Colorado
Apple's crash detection feature on iPhone 14 and Apple Watch automatically calls 911 when it detects a sudden stop, but on ski slopes it misinterprets falls as car crashes. Dispatch centers in Colorado ski towns received dozens of false calls daily, diverting resources from real emergencies. Apple acknowledged the issue and said it is working on a fix, but the problem persists.
Company
Apple Inc.
AI system
Crash detection and fall detection on iPhone 14 and Apple Watch
10 source articlescoloradosun.com
WF-B24GJBHappened 22 Jun 2021Live 5 Oct 2026
Flo Health shared fertility app users’ health data with Facebook and Google.
Flo Health Inc., the maker of the Flo Period & Ovulation Tracker app, is accused of sharing millions of users' sensitive health data with marketing and analytics firms including Facebook and Google, despite promising to keep that data private. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) finalized a settlement requiring Flo to obtain affirmative consent before sharing health data, notify affected users, and have an independent privacy review. The company also must instruct third parties to destroy the received data and is prohibited from misrepresenting its data practices.
Company
Flo Health Inc.
AI system
Flo Period & Ovulation Tracker
10 source articlesftc.gov
WF-VYTMB6Happened 21 Dec 2022Live 5 Oct 2026
Southwest Airlines holiday meltdown due to crew scheduling software failure
In December 2022, Southwest Airlines experienced a catastrophic operational meltdown after its crew scheduling software failed to assign pilots and flight attendants to flights during a winter storm. The system, SkySolver and Crew Web Access, could not handle the volume of schedule changes, leading to over 15,800 flight cancellations and stranding thousands of passengers and crew. Southwest's CEO acknowledged the technology failure and promised upgrades, but the incident remained unresolved at the time of reporting.
Company
Southwest Airlines
AI system
SkySolver and Crew Web Access
10 source articlesdallasnews.com

Each incident is written from the reporting or the account it cites. A report is an allegation, not a finding.

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

Tenant screening software denies housing to disabled Latino man in Connecticut

Arena Group publishes inaccurate AI-generated health article in Men's Journal

IARPA Janus Benchmark C dataset used faces from YouTube without consent

Danish students publish OkCupid user data, DPA investigates

Netflix Japan uses AI for anime background art, credits artist as 'AI (+ Human)'

China chatbot goes rogue on Communist party question

Clarifai sued for capturing OkCupid user photos without consent

IBM scraped millions of Flickr photos without consent for facial recognition training

Automatic soap dispenser fails to dispense soap for dark-skinned hand

Nvidia releases AI-powered Eye Contact feature for Broadcast app

Adobe uses Creative Cloud user data to train AI

Apple Face ID fails to distinguish between siblings in video

Saudi Arabia grants citizenship to robot Sophia

HP webcam facial tracking fails to follow black man's face

Tinder investigates after 40,000 profile pictures scraped and made public

Ring hacker yelled obscenities at 8-year-old girl via security camera

Historical Figures Chat app generates false claims about dead people

Manga artist loses $500,000 in deepfake romance scam impersonating Mark Ruffalo

CNET used AI to generate SEO articles

Mitra robot glitch at GES 2017 greeting Modi and Ivanka Trump

Apple iPhone crash detection triggers false 911 calls from skiers in Colorado

Flo Health shared fertility app users’ health data with Facebook and Google.

Southwest Airlines holiday meltdown due to crew scheduling software failure