{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-07T07:01:24.372Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"advertising","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"","evidence":"","year":"2025","response":"","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":2,"coverage":{"cases":2,"countries":2,"languages":2,"unknownLocation":0,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":0,"lawsuits":0,"regulatory":1,"minors":0,"coreRelations":1,"contextualRelations":0,"mixedRelations":0,"unknownRelations":1,"relationPending":0,"relationUnknown":1},"countingNote":"Distinct public cases in this selection. People counts apply within individual cases only; cross-case person overlap has not been resolved. No population incidence estimate.","affectedCountNote":"Interpret person counts with affectedCountStatus and the reported effects. Unquantified zeros are placeholders, not a measured zero.","source":"AI incidents","publisher":"NOPE","url":"https://nope.net/incidents","license":"CC BY 4.0"},"incidents":[{"id":"2026-taichung-renovation-contractor-suspected-ai-progress-photos-homeowners","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'透過臉書粉絲團找上標榜老屋翻修的裝修業者'; '工程原訂去年8月20日開工、預計今年3月底完工。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'雙方約定去年8月20日開工，預計今年3月底完工。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"A homeowner in Taichung's East District hired a renovation business found through a Facebook fan page; work was due to start on 20 August 2025 and finish by the end of March 2026.","causal_attribution":"Homeowner's account."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'H小姐一路配合付款達255萬3275元。'; '一樓也堆滿營建廢棄物'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'截至今年3月底，H小姐已陸續給付255萬3,275元'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"},{"locator":"'屋主到現場查看時更不敢相信，房子竟變成建築廢棄物堆置場。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"By the end of March 2026 she had paid NT$2,553,275 while the contractor sent progress photos and payment slips and repeatedly delayed; the house was left gutted with construction waste on the ground floor.","causal_attribution":"Homeowner's account and the reporters' observation of the house (ETtoday photographed the site)."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'她將施工照片丟進AI圖片識別網頁檢測，發現幾乎都是99.9%的AI合成成分。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'屋主用AI檢測的軟體檢查照片，發現連工人都是AI畫上去'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'甚至傳送多張幾可亂真的「AI合成施工照」回報進度。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"She says the progress photos were AI-generated: an AI-image detection website rated them about 99.9% AI, and they showed workers and fittings that did not match the house.","causal_attribution":"Homeowner's detector result and comparison; outlets describe the images as suspected AI composites; no forensic finding by police reported."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'另一名屋主C小姐同樣受害，她轉帳188萬元，又面交28萬多元，總計付出200多萬元。'; '雖然業者沒有傳AI圖給她，但她後來查看粉絲專頁，發現上面的照片都是AI合成。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'還發現目前受害已經有三人。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"A second homeowner in Dali District paid more than NT$2 million to the same contractor; she did not receive AI images but says the business's fan page photos were AI-generated. CTS reports three victims so far.","causal_attribution":"Second homeowner's account (TVBS); victim count from CTS."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'詢問是否用AI圖回報假進度，對方否認。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'不過詢問裝修業者，對方否認詐騙，進一步詢問細節卻不願多說。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"A designer at the business denied using AI images to report false progress.","causal_attribution":"Contractor's response as reported."},{"id":"c6","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'她已報案提告詐欺，累計匯款金額達255萬多元。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'目前全案已由檢警偵查，並嘗試併案擴大偵辦。'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"She has reported the case to police and filed a fraud complaint; ETtoday reports prosecutors and police are investigating and trying to combine related complaints.","causal_attribution":"Homeowner's statement and ETtoday's report of the investigation."}],"effects":[{"label":"paid about NT$2.55 million on the strength of allegedly AI-generated progress photos while the house was left gutted","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://house.ettoday.net/news/3245899","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"zh","translation_note":"Read live in Traditional Chinese on 2026-10-01 (ETtoday 房產雲, reporter's own visit and interviews, 29 September 2026). Researcher translation.","independence_group":"ettoday-taichung-renovation"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://news.tvbs.com.tw/local/4029203","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"zh","translation_note":"Read live in Traditional Chinese on 2026-10-01 (TVBS, 29 September 2026; includes a call to the contractor). Researcher translation.","independence_group":"tvbs-taichung-renovation"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://news.cts.com.tw/cts/general/202609/202609293084245.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"zh","translation_note":"Read live in Traditional Chinese on 2026-10-01 (CTS, 29 September 2026; includes the contractor's refusal). Researcher translation.","independence_group":"cts-taichung-renovation"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://fuhouse.setn.com/news/1914625","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"zh","translation_note":"Read live in Traditional Chinese on 2026-10-01 (SETN 富房網, 29 September 2026; images credited to the Housing Consumer Protection Association). Researcher translation.","independence_group":"housing-consumer-association-release"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["finance","everyday_life"],"unknowns":["Whether the progress photos were in fact AI-generated; the evidence reported is an online detector result and visual comparison, and the contractor denies it.","Which tool made the images.","Whether the third victim reported by CTS received AI images.","The outcome of the police and prosecutors' investigation."],"geography":{"basis":"Both houses are in Taichung (East District and Dali District), Taiwan, and the contractor operates in the Taichung-Changhua-Nantou area (ETtoday; TVBS). No court ruling is reported.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["TW"],"affected_person_countries":["TW"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as an adverse consumer experience in which allegedly AI-generated progress photos were used to keep a homeowner paying for unperformed work. The account is the homeowners' and the Housing Consumer Protection Association's, reported by ETtoday, TVBS, CTS and SETN; AI involvement is suspected and denied by the contractor. Homeowners appear only by initials in the sources and are not identified here; the contractor and designer are not named.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-01"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The homeowner says an AI-image detection website rated the contractor's progress photos about 99.9% AI-generated, and she and the Housing Consumer Protection Association point to workers and fittings that do not match the house (TVBS; CTS; ETtoday). The outlets describe the photos as suspected AI composites, and a designer at the business denied using AI images (TVBS). No forensic analysis by police is reported. The images were sent by the contractor; they depict the property, not the homeowner, and no source shows an AI system communicating with her, so the relation is recorded as unknown.","status":"suspected"},"person_relations":["unknown"]},"name":"Taichung, Taiwan: a homeowner who paid a renovation contractor about NT$2.55 million says the construction-progress photos it sent were AI-generated while the house was left full of debris; she has filed a fraud complaint with police, a second homeowner describes similar losses, and the contractor denies using AI images","summary":"A homeowner in Taichung's East District hired a renovation business she found through a Facebook fan page to renovate her four-storey house, with work due to start on 20 August 2025 and finish by the end of March 2026 (ETtoday). By the end of March 2026 she had paid NT$2,553,275 while the contractor cited repeated reasons for delay and sent progress photos and payment slips for materials. She became suspicious when an air-conditioning supplier named on one of the contractor's payment slips said it had not received the payment, compared the photos with the site, and ran them through an AI-image detection website, which rated them almost entirely (99.9%) AI-generated; the photos showed workers and fittings that did not exist, and the house was left gutted with construction waste piled on the ground floor (TVBS; CTS; ETtoday). She has reported it to police and, with a lawyer, filed a fraud complaint. A second homeowner in Dali District paid more than NT$2 million to the same contractor, did not receive AI images, and says the business's fan page used AI-generated pictures; CTS reports three victims so far. A designer at the business denied to TVBS that it used AI images to report false progress, and ETtoday reports prosecutors and police are investigating.","incidentDate":"2025-07-01","incidentEndDate":"2026-04-30","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"range","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","reportedDate":"2026-09-29","aiSystem":"Construction-progress photos and Facebook advertising images that the homeowner and a housing consumer group say were AI-generated (an online AI-image detector rated the progress photos 99.9% AI); the contractor denies it; no tool identified","aiProduct":"Unidentified image tool (suspected)","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["financial_loss","property_loss"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"A homeowner says she paid about NT$2.55 million to a renovation contractor that kept her paying with what she and a consumer group say were AI-generated progress photos, while her house was left gutted and full of debris; a second homeowner lost more than NT$2 million to the same business (ETtoday; TVBS; CTS). The contractor denies using AI images.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":3,"affectedCountStatus":"documented_minimum","affectedCountEvidence":"CTS reports three victims so far who plan a joint complaint ('目前已經累積三名受害者'); two are described with their payments, the East District homeowner (NT$2,553,275) and the Dali District homeowner (more than NT$2 million) (ETtoday; TVBS). Documented minimum 3.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"TW","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"investigation_opened","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://house.ettoday.net/news/3245899","primarySourceLabel":"ETtoday房產雲, 29 September 2026: AI淪裝修詐騙新工具！　台中女噴255萬「透天厝打爛變廢墟」","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-01T03:17:57.172561+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-01T03:17:57.172561+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["ai-generated-images","renovation-fraud","consumer-fraud","facebook","taiwan","taichung","police-report"]},{"id":"2025-brazil-consul-ad-ted-talk-nc-state-senator-alleged-ai-alteration","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"The manipulated version of Plaintiff’s TED Talk changed her voice and visuals without her permission","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"fabricated statements and visuals to appear as though Plaintiff made them.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"shocked to see myself saying things I never said.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"The ad artificially manipulated CNN’s Brazil broadcasts and Salvador’s TED Talk, she said in the suit","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The plaintiff alleges that an advertising campaign for the Consul appliance brand used her 2018 TED Talk in altered form, with changed voice and visuals, so that she appeared to say things she did not say.","causal_attribution":"Allegation of the plaintiff, made in a complaint and in one interview. No defendant response is inspected. The complaint states the alteration was made \"using AI, or some other means\"."},{"id":"c2","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"This follows the discovery that AI-generated and manipulated content was used within the case film to simulate real world events and campaign outcomes","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"},{"locator":"we concluded that the only appropriate course of action was to mutually withdraw the entry from the Festival, and therefore withdraw the Grand Prix and associated prizes.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"Cannes Lions stated that AI-generated and manipulated content was used within the case film for the Consul campaign \"Efficient Way to Pay\" to simulate real world events and campaign outcomes, and withdrew the Grand Prix and associated prizes.","causal_attribution":"The statement establishes the festival finding and the withdrawal. It does not name the plaintiff or state which footage was altered."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"caused her reputational harm and severe emotional distress.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"have subjected her to ridicule and embarrassment.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"subjected her to ridicule and embarrassment,","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"The plaintiff alleges that the campaign caused her reputational harm, ridicule and severe emotional distress.","causal_attribution":"Allegation in the complaint, repeated by two outlets. The complaint states the distress followed her discovery of the altered footage. Distress is not independently verified."},{"id":"c4","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"CIVIL ACTION NO. 3:25-cv-628","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Filed 08/20/25","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"OMNICOM GROUP, INC., WHIRLPOOL CORPORATION, DDB WORLDWIDE COMMUNICATIONS GROUP LLC, DM9DDB, WHIRLPOOL DO BRASIL LTDA.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Count I – Right of Publicity / Misappropriation of Likeness","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Count II - Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Count III - False Advertising, Endorsement and Light (Lanham Act","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Count IV- Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Count V - Defamation","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"misappropriated her likeness, used unfair and deceptive trade practices and violated the Lanham Act through false advertising","relation":"context","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The plaintiff filed a federal civil complaint (W.D.N.C., case 3:25-cv-628) on 20 August 2025 against Omnicom Group, Whirlpool Corporation, DDB Worldwide Communications Group, DM9DDB and Whirlpool do Brasil (Consul), asserting five counts including misappropriation of likeness, unfair and deceptive trade practices, false advertising, intentional infliction of emotional distress and defamation.","causal_attribution":"The filing establishes its own existence and contents. Its allegations remain allegations."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"DM9 acknowledged “a series of errors” in the production and submission of the case video.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s5"},{"locator":"has stepped down in the wake of controversy surrounding its Cannes Lions Grand Prix-winning campaign","relation":"supports","source_id":"s5"},{"locator":"announced the immediate removal of chief creative officer","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"DM9 publicly acknowledged \"a series of errors\" in producing and submitting the case video, and its chief creative officer was removed or stepped down.","causal_attribution":"Courthouse News relays a DM9 LinkedIn statement announcing the removal; Campaign Brief Asia relays Adweek for the step-down and DM9 for \"a series of errors\". Both are secondhand. The text inspected does not tie the errors to the plaintiff's footage specifically."},{"id":"c6","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"had been altered using AI, or some other means","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The complaint alleges the plaintiff's name, image, likeness and persona were altered using AI, or some other means.","causal_attribution":"Plaintiff's allegation. The complaint does not identify the tool."}],"effects":[{"label":"Alleged reputational harm and emotional distress from altered depiction in an advertisement","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/deandrea-salvador-whirlpool-complaint.pdf","kind":"court_filing","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"","independence_group":"salvador-complaint"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.courthousenews.com/north-carolina-state-senator-sues-over-ai-manipulated-ad/","kind":"news","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"","independence_group":"salvador-complaint"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.route-fifty.com/artificial-intelligence/2025/09/north-carolina-lawmaker-sues-over-ai-generated-ad-campaign/407945/","kind":"news","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"","independence_group":"salvador-complaint"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://www.canneslions.com/news/cannes-lions-statement-dm9-entries-into-cannes-lions-2025","kind":"organisation_statement","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"","independence_group":"cannes-lions-statement"},{"id":"s5","url":"https://campaignbriefasia.com/2025/06/29/dm9-sao-paulo-co-president-and-cco-icaro-doria-steps-down-following-cannes-lions-controversy/","kind":"trade_press","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"","independence_group":"cannes-lions-statement"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["advertising","justice"],"unknowns":["Date the advertisement was created and first released is not established in inspected sources. The June 2025 event month rests on the Cannes award (19 June 2025) and the journalist contact (20 June 2025) in the complaint, so an earlier release, including before 2025, is not excluded.","Which AI tools altered the footage, and whether the alteration of the plaintiff's footage (as opposed to CNN Brasil footage) is the AI content found by Cannes Lions, is not established by the Cannes Lions statement.","The defendants' response to the complaint and the lawsuit outcome are not inspected.","The Washington Post article listed by the archive (30 November 2025) could not be retrieved (HTTP 403 via relay, no body) and is not cited.","The complaint's claim that the plaintiff's footage was altered was not independently verified against the advertisement itself."],"geography":{"basis":"Courthouse News describes the advertisement as promoting appliances in Brazil for Consul. The complaint states the plaintiff is a resident of North Carolina, United States, and was filed in the Western District of North Carolina.","court_countries":["US"],"event_countries":["BR"],"affected_person_countries":["US"]},"publication":{"basis":"Complaint text, a festival statement and press coverage inspected. Alteration and harm are the plaintiff's allegations. The festival finding of AI-manipulated content is documented in its own statement but does not name the plaintiff. Public figure named as the litigant in a public filing. The event month (June 2025) is the month of the Cannes Grand Prix (19 June) and of the journalist's contact with the plaintiff (20 June), the earliest dated events in the complaint (paras 52 and 56); the campaign's own release date is not stated and may precede June 2025.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-29"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"Claim c6 (complaint: AI, or some other means) and claim c2 (festival finding). The Cannes Lions statement records a festival finding of AI-generated and manipulated content in the case film. The complaint attributes the alteration of the plaintiff's footage to AI \"or some other means\". The plaintiff's footage is tied to AI only by her allegations and press reports of them.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["depicted_or_impersonated"]},"name":"North Carolina state senator alleges an appliance advertisement used an altered version of her TED Talk, by AI or other means","summary":"State Senator DeAndrea Salvador alleges in a federal complaint filed in August 2025 that an advertisement for Whirlpool's Brazilian brand Consul, made by the agency DM9, used her 2018 TED Talk with altered voice and visuals so that she appeared to say things she did not say, and that this caused reputational harm and emotional distress. Cannes Lions stated on 27 June 2025 that AI-generated and manipulated content was used within the campaign's case film to simulate real-world events and campaign outcomes, and withdrew the Grand Prix. The festival statement does not name the plaintiff. The defendants' response to the complaint is not inspected.","incidentDate":"2025-06-01","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2025-06-27","aiSystem":"Unidentified AI tools: the complaint alleges alteration \"using AI, or some other means\", and Cannes Lions found AI-generated and manipulated content in the campaign case film; the tool and whether it was used on the plaintiff's footage are not established","aiProduct":"Unidentified AI tool","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"unverified","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["reputational_harm","psychological_distress"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"The plaintiff alleges in her complaint that the altered advertisement caused her reputational harm, ridicule and severe emotional distress.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"documented_minimum","affectedCountEvidence":"One person, the plaintiff, who reports harm from the altered advertisement. CNN Brasil (an organisation), the festival juries and the public are not counted.","victimAgeRange":"adult","platformType":"other","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.courthousenews.com/north-carolina-state-senator-sues-over-ai-manipulated-ad/","primarySourceLabel":"Courthouse News Service, 21 August 2025: North Carolina state senator sues over AI-manipulated ad","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-29T12:41:56.467139+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:16:57.505629+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["historical-2025"]}]}