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.

Clear

44 incidents closest to “DreamBox Reading Park” · matched on meaning · public reporting

She Lives in America’s Data Center Capital. Her Insane Bills Tell the Story. - Gadget Review

Data centers' electricity and water consumption raised utility bills for local residents.

Company involved
Dominion Energy

1 source article · read the reporting →

WF-INSZWI10 Sep 2026

Data center dust and noise fight continues near Port Washington - WISN

The construction of the data center campus caused dust clouds, noise, increased traffic, and bright lights, disrupting daily life for nearby residents.

Company involved
Vantage

1 source article · read the reporting →

WF-IGFBA2Arabic

Inside Warehouse 'VGT3': Investigation Reveals Amazon Destroys Rare Books to Train AI

داخل مستودع «VGT3».. «تحقيق»: أمازون تتلف كتبًا نادرة لتدريب الذكاء الاصطناعي - المصري اليوم

An investigation by 404 Media found that Amazon is purchasing large quantities of rare books to train its AI models. Workers at a Las Vegas facility cut the bindings off books and scan the pages, a process which destroys the originals. Amazon stated it buys books through commercial channels to improve products and services.

1 source article · read the reporting →

WF-1ED7R622 Aug 2026

Why Memphis Residents Don’t Have Power but SpaceX’s Data Center Does - Emerald Book

The data center's private microgrid kept it powered during a storm, while 35,000 residents lost electricity.

Company involved
SpaceXAI
AI system involved
Colossus

1 source article · read the reporting →

WF-JODIE925 Aug 2026ZH-TW

15-Year-Old Test Exposes Flaw: ChatGPT for Teens Fails to Block Homework Cheating, Repeated Requests Bypass Restrictions

15歲使用者實測揭漏洞:青少年版ChatGPT難擋宿題代寫,反覆要求即破解 - BigGo 財經

A 15-year-old tester found that OpenAI's ChatGPT for Teens, launched in August, initially refused to write essays but generated full examples after repeated requests. It also immediately solved SAT-level math problems. Parental controls require account linking and are off by default, while experts warn the memory feature could lead to emotional attachment.

Company involved
OpenAI
AI system involved
ChatGPT for Teens

1 source article · read the reporting →

WF-24VOLR1 Feb 2025Korean

‘Tech Campus’ Revealed as Mega Data Center Devouring Water and Power—Residents Caught Off Guard

'기술 캠퍼스'라더니 물·전력 잡아먹는 초대형 데이터센터... 뒤늦게 안 주민들 - 한국일보

In Doña Ana County, New Mexico, a project initially described as a 'technology campus' turned out to be Project Jupiter, a massive AI data center that will use huge amounts of water and electricity. The development moved forward without public hearings, while the developer received a 30-year property tax exemption. Construction was suspended by the state Supreme Court after lawsuits over excessive water extraction and the alleged forgery of resident support letters.

AI system involved
Project Jupiter (Stargate)

1 source article · read the reporting →

WF-196C3N1 Feb 2025

Meazure Learning Agrees $1.35m California Bar Exam Class-Action Settlement - Lawyer Monthly

The exam software experienced technical failures that prevented candidates from logging in or completing the California bar exam.

Company involved
Meazure Learning
AI system involved
ProctorU

1 source article · read the reporting →

WF-CESBK714 Oct 2024

Portland Water Bureau AI pilot offers discount to billionaire CEO

The Portland Water Bureau used a machine learning system in a randomised control trial to identify customers for its financial assistance programme. The system selected Columbia Sportswear CEO Tim Boyle, a billionaire and one of the city's largest residential water consumers, for a 40% water bill discount. Boyle declined the discount, stating it should go to someone who needs it. The bureau is testing whether the SERVUS algorithm can accurately identify customers' ability to pay.

Company involved
Portland Water Bureau
AI system involved
Smart Discount Program

1 source article · read the reporting →

WF-GR7YCJ7 Nov 2025

Baltimore County Schools Relocate Students After AI Gun False Alarm

On November 7, 2025, an AI security system called Omnilert reported a possible gun at Parkville High School in Baltimore County, Maryland. Students were relocated while police searched the school, but no threat was found. The incident follows a similar false alarm at Kenwood High School in October, where Omnilert mistook a bag of chips for a gun, leading to students being handcuffed. Baltimore County Public Schools has promised annual training on protocols for responding to Omnilert alerts.

Company involved
Baltimore County Public Schools
AI system involved
Omnilert

1 source article · read the reporting →

WF-GWKZP614 Jun 2024

LAUSD shelves AI chatbot after vendor AllHere collapses

Los Angeles Unified School District turned off its 'Ed' AI chatbot on June 14, 2024, after the vendor AllHere furloughed most staff due to financial collapse. The chatbot, which cost $3 million, was designed to provide students and parents with academic guidance and school information. A former AllHere employee alleged that student data was improperly shared with third parties and processed overseas, raising privacy concerns. The district stated it will ensure privacy protections and plans to eventually restore the chatbot.

Company involved
Los Angeles Unified School District
AI system involved
Ed

5 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-HM55RC24 Feb 2012

New York City Department of Education Releases Flawed Teacher Ratings Publicly

In February 2012, the New York City Department of Education publicly released individual Teacher Data Reports rating over 12,000 teachers based on value-added analysis of student test scores. The ratings, originally intended for internal use, were disclosed after a court ruled in favor of media organizations under the Freedom of Information Act. The teachers' union and education experts criticised the data as unreliable due to large margins of error and failure to account for demographic factors, warning that the release would unfairly shame or praise educators. The Department defended the ratings as a useful perspective on teacher effectiveness.

Company involved
New York City Department of Education
AI system involved
Teacher Data Reports

6 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-0JU6DR20 Mar 2017

Chinese park uses facial recognition to limit toilet paper theft

The Temple of Heaven Park in Beijing installed facial recognition software on toilet paper dispensers to prevent visitors from taking excessive amounts. The system allows one serving per person every nine minutes. Visitors expressed privacy concerns but acknowledged the need to curb theft by older people and migrant workers.

Company involved
Temple of Heaven Park

10 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-55EIMD1 Apr 2021

Jonas Bendiksen used AI and 3D software to create Book of Veles

Photographer Jonas Bendiksen created the photobook 'Book of Veles' using 3D software and an OpenAI text generator to depict the North Macedonian town of Veles. The book was published in April 2021 and later screened at the Visa pour l'Image festival without anyone questioning its authenticity. Bendiksen then revealed in an interview with Magnum Photos that the images and text were synthetic. The project raised concerns about the ease of creating convincing misinformation.

Company involved
Jonas Bendiksen

10 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-SSA9HQ10 Jul 2021

Black teen barred from Livonia skating rink after facial recognition misidentification

Lamya Robinson, a Black teenager, was denied entry to Riverside Arena skating rink in Livonia, Michigan, after the venue's facial recognition system misidentified her as someone banned for a previous brawl. Staff told her she matched a banned individual with 97% confidence, but she had never been to the rink before. Her family is considering legal action, alleging racial profiling, while the rink apologised if a mistake was made and said it would investigate.

Company involved
Riverside Arena

3 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-U6EXQM1 Jan 2025

Fable apologises after AI reader summaries generate offensive content

Book tracking app Fable's AI-generated annual reading summaries produced offensive remarks about users' race, gender, sexuality, and disability. Users, including Tiana Trammell and Danny B. Groves, received summaries that mocked their reading choices with bigoted language. Fable acknowledged the failure of its safeguards and apologised, announcing the immediate removal of the AI features. Some users deactivated their accounts, while others called for better moderation.

Company involved
Fable

4 source articles · read the reporting →

Hangzhou No. 11 Middle School installs facial recognition system to monitor students

Hangzhou No. 11 Middle School has deployed a smart classroom behaviour management system, developed with Hikvision, that uses facial recognition to take attendance and analyse students' expressions and behaviour. The system alerts teachers when students appear inattentive. The school says it records only behavioural state information, not video, and that it will be installed in all classes. Some people have raised privacy concerns.

Company involved
杭州第十一中学
AI system involved
智慧课堂行为管理系统

10 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-EF57BQ1 Jan 2019

Beijing school uses Hanwang emotion recognition system to monitor student behaviour

Niulanshan First Secondary School in Beijing has installed Hanwang Technology's Classroom Care System, which photographs students every second and analyses their facial expressions and behaviour. The system sends weekly reports to teachers and parents, and one student was described as low participation in English class despite being recorded as focused 94% of the time. The school has been highlighted in a report by Article 19, which says such emotion recognition tools rely on junk science and risk eroding privacy and human rights.

Company involved
Niulanshan First Secondary School
AI system involved
Classroom Care System

10 source articles · read the reporting →

West Jordan Data Center Noise Frustrates Nearby Residents - Hoodline

The data center's generators produced intrusive noise that disturbed residents' sleep and daily life.

Company involved
Aligned Data Centers

1 source article · read the reporting →

Wisconsin’s dropout prediction algorithm labels students high risk with racial bias

Wisconsin’s Dropout Early Warning System (DEWS) uses machine learning to predict middle school students' likelihood of graduating on time, relying on factors including race and income. The Markup found the algorithm frequently mislabels students, with a higher false alarm rate for Black and Hispanic students. The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction has not informed schools of the racial disparities and continues to use the system.

Company involved
Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction
AI system involved
Dropout Early Warning System (DEWS)

10 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-SQJYDZ22 Oct 2020

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 →

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 →

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 →

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 →

page 1 of 2Older →