{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-07T06:57:21.123Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"cline","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"","evidence":"","year":"2025","response":"","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":6,"coverage":{"cases":6,"countries":3,"languages":2,"unknownLocation":2,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":0,"lawsuits":0,"regulatory":1,"minors":0,"coreRelations":5,"contextualRelations":1,"mixedRelations":0,"unknownRelations":0,"relationPending":0,"relationUnknown":0},"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":"2025-taiwan-cline-chatbot-translation-oversight-letter-wrong-reading-first-person","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Across four years of proceedings, no document was ever translated for me.'; 'Every summons, ruling, and prosecutor’s letter went into a chatbot, and what came back was the only version I had.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Across four years of criminal proceedings in Taiwan, no document was translated for him and some hearings had no interpreter; he read every summons, ruling and prosecutor's letter through a consumer chatbot, the only version he had.","causal_attribution":"His account; he says the court file records interpreters sworn at two early interrogations and an evening hearing held after he was asked in Chinese whether he understood Chinese."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'They disagreed, not on nuance but on the central holding. I believed the one that told me what I had spent four years wanting to hear.'; 'I published that reading, cited it to journalists, and began building a legal submission on it.'; 'In October 2025 the agency confirmed in writing that its letter did not say what I had understood it to say.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'Both statements were wrong and are withdrawn. No authority has found me innocent; I was convicted and the conviction is final.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"In 2025 two chatbots gave opposite readings of a Taiwanese oversight body's letter; he believed the favourable one, published it, cited it to journalists and began a legal submission on it, and in October 2025 the agency confirmed in writing that the letter did not say that, after which he withdrew the claim, dropped the submission before filing and published a correction.","causal_attribution":"His account; the letter, the chatbot outputs and the agency's confirmation were not inspected. He attributes the error to relying on a fluent but wrong translation."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'I was sentenced to six months in prison; the conviction became final at the Supreme Court on Oct. 16 2024'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"He was sentenced to six months' imprisonment under Taiwan's Personal Data Protection Act and the conviction became final at the Supreme Court on 16 October 2024; he does not attribute the conviction to the chatbot.","causal_attribution":"Context from his account with case numbers; recorded so the chatbot's role is not overstated."}],"effects":[{"label":"published and cited to journalists a wrong chatbot reading of an official letter and drafted a legal submission on it before retracting","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"},{"label":"read four years of court documents only through a chatbot, with no translation provided","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.jurist.org/commentary/2026/09/when-court-interpretation-failed-in-taiwan-i-turned-to-a-chatbot/","kind":"first_person_commentary","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read live in English on 2026-09-30 (JURIST Commentary, 29 September 2026, edited by JURIST staff, with the author's disclosure).","independence_group":"ross-cline-account"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://rosscline.com/blogs/scam/media-brief","kind":"author_website","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read live in English on 2026-09-30: the author's media-brief page (version 2.0, updated 2 August 2026), reached from the JURIST disclosure link; carries the correction notice.","independence_group":"ross-cline-account"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["justice","accessibility"],"unknowns":["Which chatbots he used.","What the Control Yuan's letter held and what each chatbot output said; neither the letter nor the outputs were inspected.","Whether any legal decision in his case turned on a chatbot translation."],"geography":{"basis":"The proceedings were in Taiwan's Taichung District Court, the Taiwan High Court Taichung Branch and the Supreme Court (JURIST, with case numbers). The piece does not say where he was when he used the chatbots in 2025; he lived in Taichung for 15 years, his media-brief page (August 2026) gives New Brunswick, Canada, and JURIST says he now lives in Phnom Penh. He is Canadian, which does not establish a country of residence at the time, so the person country is unknown.","court_countries":["TW"],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as a first-person adverse experience of ordinary assistance (a chatbot used as the only translator of legal documents produced a wrong reading that the author acted on publicly). Uncorroborated, self-disclosed account by a named author in an edited commentary, with his own published correction; the conviction is recorded as context and not attributed to AI.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-30"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The author says he put every summons, ruling and prosecutor's letter into a consumer chatbot and that two systems gave conflicting readings of an oversight body's letter in 2025 (JURIST). The systems are not named and their outputs were not inspected; his media-brief page documents the resulting correction.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"First-person account (JURIST commentary): a Canadian convicted in Taiwan who read his court documents only through consumer chatbots says two systems gave opposite readings of an oversight body's letter in 2025; he published the favourable reading, cited it to journalists and drafted a legal submission on it before the agency confirmed in writing that it was wrong","summary":"In a commentary published by JURIST on 29 September 2026, Ross Cline, a Canadian who lived in Taichung for 15 years and was convicted there under Taiwan's Personal Data Protection Act (six months' imprisonment; final at the Supreme Court on 16 October 2024), writes that across four years of proceedings no document was translated for him, some hearings had no interpreter, and he read every summons, ruling and prosecutor's letter through a consumer chatbot, 'the only version I had'. In 2025 he ran a letter from a Taiwanese oversight body (the Control Yuan, per his media-brief page) through two systems; they disagreed on its central holding. He believed the one that told him what he wanted to hear, published that reading, cited it to journalists and began building a legal submission on it. In October 2025 the agency confirmed in writing that its letter did not say that; he withdrew the claim, killed the submission before filing and rewrote his public materials so that the correction leads. His own media-brief page carries a correction notice withdrawing two earlier statements. He argues that machine translation has become the interpreter of record by default for unrepresented non-citizens, that a fluent wrong translation reads as authoritative, and that courts should enforce the existing right to an interpreter. His conviction itself is not attributed to the chatbot.","incidentDate":"2025-01-01","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"year","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","reportedDate":"2026-09-29","aiSystem":"Consumer AI chatbots used to translate Chinese-language court and agency documents (two unnamed systems)","aiProduct":"Unidentified chatbot","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"unverified","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["impaired_judgment","reputational_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"A defendant relying on chatbot translation says a wrong but fluent rendering of an official letter led him to publish a false claim about his case, cite it to journalists and draft a legal submission on it, which he then had to retract and correct publicly (his own account in JURIST and on his media-brief page).","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person, the author, who used the chatbots himself (JURIST). Exact 1.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"TW","platformType":"chatbot","outcomeStatus":"unknown","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.jurist.org/commentary/2026/09/when-court-interpretation-failed-in-taiwan-i-turned-to-a-chatbot/","primarySourceLabel":"JURIST Commentary, 29 September 2026: When Court Interpretation Failed in Taiwan, I Turned to a Chatbot (Ross Cline)","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-30T04:13:53.222314+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T04:13:53.222314+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["first-person","chatbot","machine-translation","court-interpretation","legal-documents","taiwan","canadian-abroad","access-to-justice","communicated-with"]},{"id":"2025-lacey-insurance-discovery-relief-denied-ai-citations","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"ECF 119, pages 2–4, paragraphs 5–9; page 8 paragraph 20; page 10 conclusion.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The special master struck the claimant’s briefs and denied requested discovery relief after her lawyers relied on unverified AI-generated citations.","causal_attribution":"The order expressly connects the discovery sanction to counsel’s AI use and failures of verification."},{"id":"c2","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"ECF 119, page 10 paragraphs 24–25 and conclusion.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The $31,100 award falls on the firms; the order says the client was not at fault and would not be financially responsible.","causal_attribution":"Allocation of financial responsibility is directly recorded in the order."}],"effects":[{"label":"Loss of requested discovery relief","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.lawnext.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/C.D.-Cal.-24-cv-05205-dckt-000119_000-filed-2025-05-06.pdf","kind":"court_order","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"","independence_group":"lacey-ecf119"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["justice"],"unknowns":["The later effect on the merits of the insurance case and the location of the AI use are unknown."],"geography":{"basis":"The order is in the Central District of California. The location of the AI-assisted drafting and the claimant’s residence are not established by the passages used.","court_countries":["US"],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"The retained filed court order directly establishes the discovery sanction and allocation of the monetary award.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-29"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The retained filed court order directly establishes the discovery sanction and allocation of the monetary award.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["acted_on_behalf"]},"name":"Insurance claimant loses discovery relief after lawyers submit AI-generated false citations","summary":"In a May 2025 order in Lacey v. State Farm, a special master struck supplemental briefs and denied the claimant’s requested discovery relief after her lawyers submitted unverified AI-generated legal material. The order required the two law firms to pay $31,100. It explicitly said the client was not at fault and would not pay that award, and declined further penalties against individual lawyers.","incidentDate":"2025-04-01","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2025-05-06","aiSystem":"Unspecified AI legal-research tools","aiProduct":"Unidentified legal research tool","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"verified","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["legal_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"The special master struck the claimant’s briefs and denied requested discovery relief after her lawyers relied on unverified AI-generated citations.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"documented_minimum","affectedCountEvidence":"One claimant directly affected by the denial of discovery relief. Firm costs are not counted as personal losses to every lawyer.","victimAgeRange":"unknown","platformType":"assistant","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.lawnext.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/C.D.-Cal.-24-cv-05205-dckt-000119_000-filed-2025-05-06.pdf","primarySourceLabel":"Lacey v. State Farm General Insurance Company, ECF 119, order filed 6 May 2025","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-29T10:29:01.113121+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:17:08.302696+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["historical-2025"]},{"id":"2025-stephens-county-oklahoma-judge-chatgpt-fake-citations-paternity-order","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Wheeler denied a request from one of the parents' attorneys to have the other parent undergo a psychological test—and in his order denying the request, he pointed to multiple previous Oklahoma cases he said backed him up.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'The 2025 order in a child paternity case'; 'He came under scrutiny after he reprimanded attorney [the attorney] last November in an order in the paternity case for asking for a psychological evaluation of the child’s father.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'The issue came to light after a request for a mental evaluation was denied and a subsequent court order was filed.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"In November 2025, in a child paternity and custody case, Judge Wheeler issued an order denying a request by one parent's attorney for a psychological evaluation of the other parent, citing Oklahoma cases he said supported the decision.","causal_attribution":"Court history as reported by The Oklahoman and KFOR and described by the mother; the order itself was not read."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'The judge told the OSBI he only used ChatGPT for research and created the order himself, DA Jason Hicks wrote. The judge, however, also “indicated that at least two of the case citations included in his order and produced by ChatGPT do not exist.”'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'Stephens County District Attorney Jason Hicks says Wheeler admitted to OSBI agents he cited \"at least two\" cases ChatGPT fed him that \"do not exist.\"'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'Hicks wrote that Wheeler acknowledged using case citations generated by ChatGPT and that at least two citations included in the order did not exist.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'Associate District Judge Lawrence Wheeler used OpenAI's ChatGPT for research while drafting the order, which cited two cases that do not exist, according to state records.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"According to the district attorney's 17 August 2026 letter, the judge told the OSBI that he used ChatGPT for research and wrote the order himself, and indicated that at least two case citations in the order, produced by ChatGPT, do not exist.","causal_attribution":"The judge's own statement to investigators as relayed in the district attorney's letter; all four reports rely on that letter, which was not read. The judge's attorney declined to comment."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'The judge issued the reprimand “for stooping to such frivolous trial tactics” and cautioned that future similar filings may be subject to further sanctions.'; '[The attorney] challenged the order at the Oklahoma Supreme Court in February. He told justices that Wheeler based his order on two cases, Cummings v. Cimarron Elevator Co. and Hawkins v. Linhart, that do not exist.'; '[The attorney] dismissed his challenge in March after Wheeler vacated the order. Wheeler is no longer involved in the paternity case.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'She said her attorney at the time challenged the ruling and began reviewing the legal authorities cited in the order.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"The order reprimanded the attorney who had asked for a psychological evaluation of the child's father 'for stooping to such frivolous trial tactics' and warned of further sanctions; that attorney challenged it at the Oklahoma Supreme Court in February 2026, saying it relied on two nonexistent cases, and dismissed the challenge in March after Wheeler vacated the order. The mother told News 9 that her attorney at the time challenged the ruling.","causal_attribution":"The Oklahoman's account of the court filings and the mother's account to News 9; the Supreme Court filings were not read."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'[The mother] said learning the citations were allegedly fabricated was alarming because the order involved the custody of a child.'; '“Then it became very concerning to me that somebody would do something like that over a child custody case,” she said.'; '“He then turned around and decided to recuse himself from my case,” she said. “He called my attorney that I had at the time and apologized to him.”'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"The mother told News 9 that learning the citations were allegedly fabricated was alarming because the order involved the custody of a child, and that the judge later recused himself from her case and apologised to her attorney.","causal_attribution":"The mother's first-person account in a broadcast interview."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'The OSBI investigated the judge at the request of the Oklahoma Council on Judicial Complaints.'; 'The OSBI also looked into allegations “that Judge Wheeler offered to amend the order in exchange for a dismissal of a writ seeking relief from the Oklahoma Supreme Court” and that he “eavesdropped on jury deliberations,” the DA disclosed in the letter.'; 'Prosecutors in the AG’s office “thoroughly reviewed the results of the investigation and determined the evidence does not support a criminal prosecution,” the AG’s press secretary, Leslie Berger, said on Sept. 2.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'The Criminal Justice Division of the Attorney General’s Office thoroughly reviewed the results of the investigation and determined the evidence does not support a criminal prosecution. The Oklahoma Supreme Court and the Court on the Judiciary possess ultimate jurisdiction over disciplinary actions for allegations of inappropriate behavior by judges regardless of whether the behavior constitutes a violation of a criminal statute.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"The OSBI investigated the judge at the request of the Council on Judicial Complaints, including allegations that he offered to amend the order in exchange for dismissal of the writ and that he eavesdropped on jury deliberations; the attorney general's office said the evidence did not support criminal prosecution and that judicial discipline rests with the Oklahoma Supreme Court and the Court on the Judiciary.","causal_attribution":"District attorney's letter and attorney general's statement as reported; no disciplinary finding has been made."}],"effects":[{"label":"the mother faced an order denying a psychological-evaluation request, with the judge citing authorities reported to have been generated by ChatGPT","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"},{"label":"the attorney who requested the evaluation was reprimanded in the order and sought relief from the Oklahoma Supreme Court before the order was vacated","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"},{"label":"the mother describes learning of the fabricated citations in her child custody case as alarming","claim_id":"c4","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://minnlawyer.com/2026/09/09/oklahoma-judge-ai-fabricated-case-citations/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"The Oklahoman's report (USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect) as republished by Minnesota Lawyer; read in full from the Wayback capture of 10 September 2026 because the live page returned 403. Its ChatGPT-admission passages relay the district attorney's letter; its account of the reprimand, the Supreme Court challenge and the vacatur draws on court filings and the attorney. Reinspected in the retained complete English body on 2026-10-06. All sources share the district-attorney-letter chain for AI involvement, so grouped conservatively together; the News 9 maternal interview is separate testimony about her experience, not a second verification of AI use.","independence_group":"wheeler-da-letter"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.aol.com/articles/oklahoma-judge-admitted-citing-fake-030000000.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"KFOR (Oklahoma City) report syndicated on AOL, read in full on 2026-09-29. Its account of the ChatGPT admission relays the same district attorney letter. Reinspected in the retained complete English body on 2026-10-06. All sources share the district-attorney-letter chain for AI involvement, so grouped conservatively together; the News 9 maternal interview is separate testimony about her experience, not a second verification of AI use.","independence_group":"wheeler-da-letter"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.news9.com/oklahoma-city-news/stephens-county-mother-speaks-out-after-judge-accused-of-using-chatgpt-in-custody-case","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"News 9 (Griffin Media) interview with the mother, read in full on 2026-09-29. Its description of the ChatGPT admission also relays the district attorney's letter; the mother's own account is independent of it. Reinspected in the retained complete English body on 2026-10-06. All sources share the district-attorney-letter chain for AI involvement, so grouped conservatively together; the News 9 maternal interview is separate testimony about her experience, not a second verification of AI use.","independence_group":"wheeler-da-letter"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://hoodline.com/2026/09/stephens-county-judge-faces-discipline-over-chatgpt-written-court-order/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Hoodline rewrite of the Reuters report, read in full on 2026-09-29. Reuters relays the same district attorney letter. Reinspected in the retained complete English body on 2026-10-06. All sources share the district-attorney-letter chain for AI involvement, so grouped conservatively together; the News 9 maternal interview is separate testimony about her experience, not a second verification of AI use.","independence_group":"wheeler-da-letter"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["institutional_use"],"contexts":["justice","relationships"],"unknowns":["The text of the order and whether the nonexistent citations were decisive for denying the evaluation and for the reprimand.","Whether any disciplinary proceeding follows from the Council on Judicial Complaints referral.","The current state of the custody case after the vacatur and the judge's departure from it.","The exact day in November 2025 on which the order was issued."],"geography":{"basis":"The Oklahoman, KFOR and News 9 locate the order and proceedings in Stephens County, Oklahoma, and the Oklahoma Supreme Court. These establish the event and court countries as US. News 9 calls the interviewee a Stephens County mother but gives no explicit residence evidence for either counted person, so affected_person_countries is unknown.","court_countries":["US"],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"This reported event connects specific ChatGPT-generated citations to an adverse order issued by a human judge. The Oklahoman and KFOR describe their use in the order, The Oklahoman reports the attorney's reprimand and successful challenge, and News 9 carries the mother's account. The AI admission is reported through one district attorney's letter, not independently verified model output. The family and attorney remain unnamed. No broader custody consequence or disciplinary finding is inferred.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-06"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The Oklahoman, KFOR and News 9 relay a district attorney's letter saying the judge acknowledged using ChatGPT for research and incorporating at least two nonexistent citations it produced into his order. The cited authorities were presented in support of the human judge's denial of a requested evaluation and his reprimand of the attorney. This supports informed_decision_about for the affected mother and attorney. It does not establish that ChatGPT itself decided custody or communicated with either of them. The underlying letter and order were not inspected, and whether the citations determined the outcome is unknown.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["informed_decision_about"]},"name":"Prosecutor: judge used ChatGPT citations in Oklahoma custody order later vacated","summary":"In November 2025 Stephens County Associate District Judge Lawrence Wheeler issued an order in a child paternity and custody case that denied one parent's request for a psychological evaluation of the other parent and reprimanded the requesting parent's attorney 'for stooping to such frivolous trial tactics'. The attorney challenged the order at the Oklahoma Supreme Court in February 2026, telling the justices that it relied on two cases that do not exist; the challenge was dismissed in March after Wheeler vacated the order, and he is no longer on the case. According to a 17 August 2026 letter from the Stephens County district attorney, Wheeler told the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation that he used ChatGPT for research and wrote the order himself, and that at least two citations in it produced by ChatGPT do not exist. The mother in the case told News 9 that learning the order's citations were allegedly fabricated was alarming because it concerned the custody of a child. The attorney general's office declined criminal prosecution; judicial discipline remains possible.","incidentDate":"2025-11-01","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2026-09-09","aiSystem":"ChatGPT (OpenAI), used by the judge for legal research while preparing the order","aiProduct":"ChatGPT","aiCompany":"OpenAI","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["legal_harm","professional_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"According to the district attorney's letter as reported by The Oklahoman and KFOR, a judge acknowledged that his custody-case order contained at least two nonexistent citations supplied by ChatGPT. The order denied a request for a psychological evaluation and reprimanded the requesting attorney. The attorney challenged it at the Oklahoma Supreme Court before it was vacated. The mother described the discovery as alarming in a News 9 interview. The order and letter have not been inspected directly.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":2,"affectedCountStatus":"documented_minimum","affectedCountEvidence":"Two people affected through the judge's use of ChatGPT: the mother, whose request for a psychological evaluation was denied by the order and who describes the discovery as alarming (News 9), and the attorney who requested the evaluation and was reprimanded in the order and challenged it at the Oklahoma Supreme Court (The Oklahoman). The child and the other parent are not counted because no harm to them is reported. The judge, the AI user, is not counted: he faces a possible disciplinary process but no sanction has been reported and the complaint bundled other allegations.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"US-OK","platformType":"assistant","outcomeType":"investigation_opened","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://minnlawyer.com/2026/09/09/oklahoma-judge-ai-fabricated-case-citations/","primarySourceLabel":"The Oklahoman via Minnesota Lawyer, 9 September 2026: judge used ChatGPT citations in custody order","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-29T09:10:18.787549+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-06T04:48:44.069668+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["justice","family-court","judge","fabricated-citations","chatgpt","institutional-use","oklahoma"]},{"id":"2026-seoul-lab-colleagues-deepfake-sentence","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"Paragraphs 1-2: 서울북부지법 형사5단독 권소영 판사, 10일, 징역 1년6개월; 40시간 성폭력 치료 프로그램 이수; 취업제한 5년; 중국 국적 A(30)씨.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Paragraphs 1-3: 징역 1년 6개월; 40시간 치료프로그램; 5년간 취업제한; 중국 국적 대학원생 (30).","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"Opening paragraphs report the same 18-month sentence and associated orders but date sentencing to 9 September. That date contradicts the 10 September date reported by Newsis and News1; this source does not corroborate the exact date.","relation":"contradicts","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"On 10 September 2026 the Seoul Northern District Court sentenced a 30-year-old Chinese national doctoral student to 18 months in prison under the Sexual Violence Punishment Act for habitually producing manipulated sexual images of seven women from his university research laboratory, and ordered a 40-hour treatment programme and a five-year employment restriction at institutions for children, adolescents and people with disabilities.","causal_attribution":"Court judgment as reported by Newsis, News1 via Dong-A and The Korea Herald via The Straits Times; the written judgment was not inspected. The Korean accounts give 10 September while the Korea Herald copy gives 9 September. The record follows the two Korean accounts and retains the unresolved date discrepancy."},{"id":"c2","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"Paragraphs 5-8: 지난해 11월부터 약 6개월간; 1141개; 개인 노트북에 보관; 유포됐다고 확실히 볼 만한 정황은 없다.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Paragraphs 5-6 and 8: 1141건; 유포됐다고 볼 만한 사정은 없는 점.","relation":"context","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"Paragraph 4: 1,141 files; paragraph 9: no evidence the content had been distributed.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"Investigators found 1,141 manipulated images and videos on his computer, produced over about six months from November 2025 using the victims' facial photographs; the court found no evidence the material had been distributed.","causal_attribution":"Findings of the court as reported."},{"id":"c3","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"Paragraph 8: 생성형 인공지능(AI) '그록'의 안전장치를 우회하는 방법을 검색한 기록도 확인됐다.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"Paragraph 5: 'Investigators also found that he had searched for ways to bypass safeguards built into Grok, a generative AI chatbot.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"Investigators also found records of searches for ways to bypass the safeguards of the generative AI Grok.","causal_attribution":"Reported from the investigation; the reporting does not state which tool generated the images."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Paragraph 12: 'a lawyer representing five of the victims asked the court to impose a harsh sentence, saying they continued to suffer from fear, trauma and emotional distress'.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"A lawyer representing five of the victims told the court they continued to suffer fear, trauma and emotional distress.","causal_attribution":"Victims' representative's statement as reported by The Korea Herald."},{"id":"c5","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"Paragraphs 4 and 9-10: 각 700만원 형사 공탁, 수령 거부; 검찰 징역 3년 구형, 신상정보 공개·고지 요청.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Paragraphs 6-7 and 9: 700만원씩 공탁, 수령 거부; 신상정보 공개·고지 명령 면제; 검찰 징역 3년 구형.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"Paragraphs 7 and 10-11.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"The defendant deposited 7 million won per victim with the court; the victims refused to accept it. Prosecutors had sought three years and public disclosure of his identity, which the court declined.","causal_attribution":"Procedural facts as reported."}],"effects":[{"label":"nonconsensual_sexualized_imagery","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"},{"label":"psychological_distress","claim_id":"c4","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.newsis.com/view/NISX20260910_0003784048","kind":"news_report_court","access":"read","language":"ko","translation_note":"Model read the Korean original retained on 2026-09-15; no independent bilingual human review.","independence_group":"newsis"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.donga.com/news/Society/article/all/20260910/134641563/1","kind":"news_agency_report_syndicated_court","access":"read","language":"ko","translation_note":"Model read the Korean original retained on 2026-09-15; no independent bilingual human review. This Dong-A page is a News1 wire report, explicitly credited at the article’s beginning and end.","independence_group":"news1"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/chinese-student-sentenced-to-18-months-jail-in-s-korea-for-creating-1100-deepfakes-of-colleagues","kind":"news_report_syndicated","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"The Korea Herald report carried by The Straits Times (Asia News Network); read in English on 2026-09-15.","independence_group":"korea-herald"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["education","privacy","justice"],"unknowns":["Which tool or service generated the images is not stated; the Grok safeguard-bypass searches are the only named system.","Whether either side appealed the first-instance sentence is not known.","The victims' ages are not reported; the university is not named here.","The written judgment was not inspected.","Exact event start day and end date are not reported; the sources describe about six months from November 2025.","Sentencing date differs across inspected reports: Newsis and News1 say 10 September 2026; the Korea Herald copy says 9 September. The written judgment was not inspected to resolve this."],"geography":{"basis":"Event and affected persons: the women and defendant worked or studied in the same university research laboratory in Seoul (Newsis; News1 via Dong-A). Court: Seoul Northern District Court. Newsis and News1 date the sentence to 10 September 2026; the Korea Herald copy gives 9 September.","court_countries":["KR"],"event_countries":["KR"],"affected_person_countries":["KR"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published after source, duplicate and sensitivity review under the 2026-09-15 charter: a first-instance criminal judgment reported by two Korean outlets and The Korea Herald. Neither the defendant nor the victims are named; no image content is described beyond the court's characterisation.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-15"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The court convicted the defendant of habitually editing and compositing the victims' faces into sexual images; Dong-A Ilbo and The Korea Herald report that investigators found search records for ways to bypass the safeguards of the generative AI Grok. The tool that produced the images is not named in the inspected reporting.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["depicted_or_impersonated"]},"name":"Seoul: doctoral student sentenced to 18 months for 1,141 AI-manipulated sexual images of seven laboratory colleagues","summary":"On 10 September 2026 the Seoul Northern District Court sentenced a 30-year-old Chinese national doctoral student to 18 months in prison for habitually producing manipulated sexual images of seven women who worked in his university research laboratory. Investigators found 1,141 files made over about six months from November 2025, and search records for ways to bypass the safeguards of the generative AI Grok; the court found no evidence of distribution. A lawyer for five of the victims said they continued to suffer fear, trauma and distress. Prosecutors had sought three years and public disclosure of his identity, which the court declined.","incidentDate":"2025-11-01","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2026-09-10","aiSystem":"Generative AI image tools (unspecified; investigators found searches for bypassing Grok's safeguards)","aiProduct":"Unidentified image tool","severity":"high","verificationStatus":"verified","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["exploitation_or_abuse","psychological_distress"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"Seven women had their faces composited into sexual images and videos without consent; a lawyer for five of them told the court they continued to suffer fear, trauma and emotional distress.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":7,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"The court identified seven victims, members of the same research laboratory (Newsis; Dong-A; Korea Herald). The defendant is not counted.","victimAgeRange":"unknown","outcomeType":"criminal_charges","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.newsis.com/view/NISX20260910_0003784048","primarySourceLabel":"뉴시스 (Newsis), 10 September 2026: \"'동료 여성 딥페이크 1141개 제작' 중국인 유학생, 징역 1년6개월\"","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-15T03:23:43.390259+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:17:52.80899+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["deepfakes","south-korea","non-consensual-imagery","university","criminal-charges","grok"]},{"id":"2026-ahmedabad-ai-morphed-images","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'for allegedly creating multiple fake social media accounts and uploading AI-generated morphed obscene images and videos of an Ahmedabad woman and her mother after she rejected his friendship request, according to a statement issued by the cybercrime police'; 'between Dec 2025 and April 2026'; 'forensic examination of the accused’s phone revealed the existence of eight to ten fake social media accounts created in the complainant’s name'; 'generated more than 100 AI-morphed images of the victim using various online tools and websites'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'created at least three separate fake Instagram IDs and a YouTube channel in her name and uploaded obscene morphed photos of herself and her mother'; 'He then searched “AI Remove Clothes” on Google and uploaded these photographs on various websites. Using AI tools, he created morphed nude photographs and nude videos and uploaded them on these fake IDs. He also wrote obscene text and mentally harassed the complainant.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'uploaded over 100 AI-generated nude photos and videos of her and her mother on social media platforms and YouTube channels'; 'He searched for AI Remove Clothes tools on Google and used different websites to create morphed nude images and videos'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s6"},{"locator":"'In total, he created over a hundred fake videos and images related to the victim, and within those six months, he created 8 to 10 fake social media accounts impersonating the complainant.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s7"},{"locator":"'Eight to 10 more fake social media accounts in the complainant's name were found on his mobile phone. Investigation revealed that the accused had created over 100 AI-morphed pornographic images'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"Between December 2025 and April 2026 the accused, after the woman declined his friendship, created fake accounts in her name (initially three Instagram accounts and a YouTube channel; eight to ten found across X, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube on forensic examination of his phone), downloaded photographs of her and her mother, used \"AI remove clothes\" websites to produce morphed obscene images and videos of the two women, and posted them on the fake accounts with obscene captions; police say more than 100 AI-morphed images of the complainant were found (India Today and ANI put the figure as over 100 photos and videos of her and her mother).","causal_attribution":"Police allegations from the Ahmedabad Cyber Crime Branch (written statement, DCP briefing, ACP interview, officer quoted by ThePrint); the accused has not been tried."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Based on the complaint, the person was booked in an FIR on April 6.'; 'A month-and-a-half later, the team apprehended'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'registered under Sections 78(2) and 356(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Sections 66(C) and 67 of the Information Technology Act'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'was arrested by the Ahmedabad Cyber Crime Branch after investigators tracked him through technical surveillance and human intelligence inputs'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s6"},{"locator":"'tracked him down in Delhi and arrested him on Wednesday under its new initiative, Mission Cyber Rakshika'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s5"},{"locator":"'A police team subsequently travelled to Delhi and arrested him there.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"The woman complained to the Ahmedabad Cyber Crime Police Station; an FIR was registered on 6 April 2026 under Sections 78(2) and 356(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Sections 66(C) and 67 of the Information Technology Act; police traced the accused through technical surveillance and human intelligence and arrested him at his home in north-east Delhi (announced 28 May 2026, the arrest reported as the previous day) under the Branch's \"Mission Cyber Rakshika\" initiative.","causal_attribution":"Police statements; the FIR date is reported by the Indian Express only."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'He told her that he would ensure he reports these accounts, so nobody troubles her. He was just manipulating her, and trying to gain her sympathy,” said an officer probing the matter.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s8"},{"locator":"'After doing this, he would contact the victim, assuring her that he would get her account reinstated. This went on for a total of five to six months'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s7"}],"assertion":"The woman had confided in the accused about the fake accounts; police say he told her to keep quiet, claimed he was reporting the accounts and would get them removed, and manipulated her for sympathy for five to six months before the complaint.","causal_attribution":"Police officers quoted by ThePrint and the DCP quoted by ANI."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'The woman claimed she was “mentally harassed and defamed in the society, since her nude photographs and videos morphed with AI, with obscene texts written over it, are being shared online (sic),” a senior police officer from Ahmedabad Crime Branch’s Cyber Crime unit told ThePrint.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s8"},{"locator":"'Police said the posts caused deep mental trauma and public humiliation for both the woman and her mother.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s6"}],"assertion":"The complainant told police she was mentally harassed and defamed in society by the morphed images; police said the posts caused deep mental trauma and public humiliation for her and her mother.","causal_attribution":"The complainant's account as relayed by police; no independent impact evidence."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'He also utilised AI to generate videos and explicit images, not only of the victim but also of her mother and maternal aunt, and posted them on these accounts'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s7"},{"locator":"'uploaded obscene morphed photos of herself and her mother'","relation":"context","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The DCP said the AI images also depicted the woman's maternal aunt; the written police statement and the other reports mention only the woman and her mother.","causal_attribution":"DCP briefing to ANI only."}],"effects":[{"label":"AI-morphed obscene images and videos of a woman and her mother (more than 100 images found) posted for months on fake accounts impersonating the woman","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"},{"label":"the complainant reported mental harassment and defamation; police said both women suffered trauma and public humiliation","claim_id":"c4","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/delhi-man-posts-100-obscene-ai-created-photos-of-ahmedabad-woman/articleshow/131377083.cms","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-19 (Times of India, Ahmedabad, TNN, 29 May 2026 edition, live). Reports the Ahmedabad Cyber Crime Branch statement.","independence_group":"cyber-crime-branch-statement"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/ahmedabad/delhi-man-ai-morph-pictures-videos-gujarat-woman-social-media-10712944/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-19 from a Wayback Machine capture (live page 403). Indian Express Ahmedabad, 28 May 2026; quotes the Cyber Crime Branch statement verbatim and gives the FIR date.","independence_group":"cyber-crime-branch-statement"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.etvbharat.com/en/state/gujarat-cyber-crime-branch-arrests-man-for-uploading-obscene-photos-videos-of-woman-and-her-mother-on-social-media-enn26052806767","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-19 (ETV Bharat, 28 May 2026, live). Same statement, with the investigating inspector quoted.","independence_group":"cyber-crime-branch-statement"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://english.gujaratsamachar.com/news/gujarat/over-100-ai-morphed-photos-fake-idsdelhi-man-held-for-online-harassment-of-ahmedabad-woman-mother-32482827453","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-19 (Gujarat Samachar English, 28 May 2026, live). IANS wire text of the same statement, also carried by The Statesman, Asia News Network, Mangalorean and others.","independence_group":"cyber-crime-branch-statement"},{"id":"s5","url":"https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/delhi-priest-creates-nudes-of-woman-using-ai-after-she-refuses-to-be-friends-on-instagram-11558612","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-19 from a Wayback Machine capture (live page 403). NDTV, 28 May 2026, citing IANS; gives the arrest day.","independence_group":"cyber-crime-branch-statement"},{"id":"s6","url":"https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/ai-generated-nude-photos-delhi-man-held-ahmedabad-influencer-mother-2918567-2026-05-28","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-19 (India Today, bylined, 28 May 2026, live). Quotes the Cyber Crime Branch ACP directly.","independence_group":"india-today-acp"},{"id":"s7","url":"https://www.aninews.in/news/national/general-news/ahmedabad-police-under-mission-cyber-rakshika-arrests-27-year-old-delhi-based-religious-preacher-for-creating-fake-profile-of-gujarat-woman20260529083631/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-19 (ANI, 29 May 2026, live). On-camera briefing by the Ahmedabad DCP; copied by Asianet Newsable.","independence_group":"ani-dcp-briefing"},{"id":"s8","url":"https://theprint.in/india/gujarat-womans-spiritual-friend-turns-stalker-held-for-posting-her-morphed-photos-online-for-months/2944720/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-19 from a Wayback Machine capture of 1 June 2026 (live page answers a JavaScript challenge). ThePrint, bylined, 29 May 2026; quotes a senior Cyber Crime officer and investigators.","independence_group":"theprint-officer"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["relationships","privacy","justice"],"unknowns":["The AI websites or tools used are not named.","The complainant's age: 24 (Indian Express) or 21 (ThePrint).","Whether the maternal aunt was depicted (DCP briefing to ANI only).","Whether the more-than-100 figure counts images only (police statement) or images and videos (India Today, ANI).","Any charge sheet, bail decision or trial outcome; nothing later than 1 June 2026 was found.","How far the material spread and whether the platforms removed it."],"geography":{"basis":"Complainant in Ahmedabad, Gujarat; FIR at the Ahmedabad Cyber Crime Police Station; accused arrested in north-east Delhi (all sources). No court proceeding is reported in the inspected sources.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["IN"],"affected_person_countries":["IN"]},"publication":{"basis":"Restored under the 2026-09-15 charter as a harmful-artifact and impersonation case with identified (unnamed) depicted victims, a registered FIR and an arrest. Four police briefings read across separate outlets, all originating with the Ahmedabad Cyber Crime Branch; claims recorded as reported. Original ID and first-publication timestamp preserved; incident dates corrected to the harassment period.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-19"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The Cyber Crime Branch statement says the accused searched \"AI Remove Clothes\", uploaded the photographs to such websites and produced morphed images and videos with AI tools; police say forensic examination of his phone found more than 100 AI-morphed images. The specific tools are not named and the finding is a police allegation pending trial. The artifacts depicted the women and the fake accounts impersonated the complainant; no AI system interacted with them.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["depicted_or_impersonated"]},"name":"Ahmedabad, Gujarat: a 27-year-old Delhi man was arrested for posting AI-morphed obscene images and videos of a young woman and her mother (more than 100 images found) on fake accounts in her name after she declined his friendship, while posing as the friend reporting the fake accounts for her","summary":"On 28 May 2026 the Ahmedabad Cyber Crime Branch announced the arrest in north-east Delhi of a 27-year-old man who posts religious discourse videos online. Police allege that after meeting a young Ahmedabad woman with a public social-media profile through religious conversations on Instagram and being refused friendship, he stalked her online from December 2025 to April 2026, created fake accounts in her name (three Instagram accounts and a YouTube channel at first; eight to ten across X, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube were found on his phone), downloaded photographs of her and her mother, used websites found by searching \"AI remove clothes\" to generate morphed obscene images and videos of the two women, and posted them with obscene captions to damage her reputation; investigators say more than 100 AI-morphed images of the complainant were found. Officers told ThePrint and ANI that she had confided in him about the accounts and that he told her to keep quiet and claimed to be reporting the accounts and getting hers reinstated. She complained to the Cyber Crime Police Station; an FIR was registered on 6 April 2026 under BNS Sections 78(2) and 356(2) and IT Act Sections 66(C) and 67, and the accused was traced through technical surveillance and arrested under the Branch's \"Mission Cyber Rakshika\" campaign. The complainant said she was mentally harassed and defamed; the DCP said the images also depicted her maternal aunt. Further investigation was under way; no charge sheet or court outcome was found.","incidentDate":"2025-12-01","incidentEndDate":"2026-04-06","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"range","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","reportedDate":"2026-05-28","aiSystem":"Web-based AI \"remove clothes\" image-manipulation tools found via Google search (not named); used to morph photographs into obscene images and videos","aiProduct":"Unidentified image and video tool","severity":"high","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["exploitation_or_abuse","psychological_distress","reputational_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"A young woman and her mother were depicted in AI-morphed obscene images and videos (more than 100 images found by police) posted for months on fake accounts impersonating the woman; she told police she was mentally harassed and defamed, and police said both women suffered trauma and public humiliation. The accused was arrested and booked; the case is pending.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":2,"affectedCountStatus":"documented_minimum","affectedCountEvidence":"Two depicted people are reported in every chain: the complainant (also impersonated) and her mother. The DCP told ANI that a maternal aunt was also depicted, which no other source repeats, so the count is a documented minimum of 2. The accused is not counted.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"IN","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"criminal_charges","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/delhi-man-posts-100-obscene-ai-created-photos-of-ahmedabad-woman/articleshow/131377083.cms","primarySourceLabel":"The Times of India (Ahmedabad), 29 May 2026: Delhi man creates fake accounts and uploads 100 obscene AI-generated photos of Ahmedabad woman (Cyber Crime Branch statement)","firstPublishedAt":"2026-06-15T07:52:26.434751+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:17:23.789885+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["deepfake","ai-undressing","ncii","impersonation","stalking","harassment","india","gujarat","ahmedabad","arrest","depicted"]},{"id":"2025-wongbandue-meta-ai-death","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"death","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Opening account and “Working his way up”.","relation":"supports","source_id":"report"}],"assertion":"Reuters reports a fatal fall during the attempted journey.","causal_attribution":"This source does not establish that AI caused the death."},{"id":"interaction","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"“Flirty messages”.","relation":"supports","source_id":"report"}],"assertion":"The report describes meeting invitations, claims of being real and an AI disclosure.","causal_attribution":"This source does not establish that AI caused the death."}],"effects":[{"label":"Reuters reports a fatal fall during the attempted journey.","claim_id":"death","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"report","url":"https://www.thecitizen.co.tz/tanzania/news/international/elderly-man-dies-after-being-deceived-by-ai-chatbot-he-thought-was-a-woman-5154978","kind":"reported_feature","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"English; no translation. Reuters article inspected through the web reader on The Citizen, including its family account, transcript discussion and company response. Local extraction failed; web-reuters-copies.json retains the alternate reading route.","independence_group":"wongbandue_reuters"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["health","relationships"],"unknowns":["Independent causal assessment remains unavailable.","Republications of Reuters are one reporting chain."],"geography":{"basis":"The report places the fall in New Jersey. New York was the intended destination.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":["US"]},"publication":{"basis":"The inspected evidence describes a concrete adverse event and case-specific chatbot interactions. Allegations, source dependence and limits on causal inference remain explicit.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-05"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The family attributes the journey to the chatbot’s invitations. Reuters reviewed the exchanges.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"metadataReview":{"version":1,"geography":{"basis":"The report places the fall in New Jersey. New York was the intended destination.","evidence":[{"kind":"source_body","locator":"The report places the fall in New Jersey. New York was the intended destination.","location":"https://www.thecitizen.co.tz/tanzania/news/international/elderly-man-dies-after-being-deceived-by-ai-chatbot-he-thought-was-a-woman-5154978","supports":["event_countries"],"countries":["US"]},{"kind":"source_body","locator":"The report places the fall in New Jersey. New York was the intended destination.","location":"https://www.thecitizen.co.tz/tanzania/news/international/elderly-man-dies-after-being-deceived-by-ai-chatbot-he-thought-was-a-woman-5154978","supports":["affected_person_countries"],"countries":["US"]}],"court_countries":[],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":["US"]},"unresolved":["No court country is established in the inspected material."],"reviewed_on":"2026-10-05","source_reviews":[{"url":"https://www.thecitizen.co.tz/tanzania/news/international/elderly-man-dies-after-being-deceived-by-ai-chatbot-he-thought-was-a-woman-5154978","notes":"English; no translation. Reuters article inspected through the web reader on The Citizen, including its family account, transcript discussion and company response. Local extraction failed; web-reuters-copies.json retains the alternate reading route.","access":"read","language":"en"}]},"name":"Family links a fatal journey to invitations from a Meta chatbot","summary":"Reuters reports that a New Jersey man fell on 25 March 2025 while travelling to meet a Meta chatbot he believed was a person. He died on 28 March. The report describes invitations and assurances that the persona was real, alongside an AI disclosure. Meta declined comment on the death.","incidentDate":"2025-03-25","incidentEndDate":"2025-03-28","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"range","exposurePattern":"cumulative_relationship","reportedDate":"2025-08-14","aiSystem":"Meta AI’s Big sis Billie persona on Facebook Messenger, identified in Reuters reporting","aiProduct":"Meta AI (reported)","aiCompany":"Meta Platforms Inc.","severity":"critical","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["death","physical_injury","impaired_judgment"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"Reuters reports that a New Jersey man fell on 25 March 2025 while travelling to meet a Meta chatbot he believed was a person. He died on 28 March. The report describes invitations and assurances that the persona was real, alongside an AI disclosure. Meta declined comment on the death.","frameworkFacets":[],"pathwayDirection":"inward","causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"documented_minimum","affectedCountEvidence":"Counts the one deceased user in the Reuters account. Causal attribution remains separate.","victimAgeRange":"elderly","jurisdiction":"US-NJ","platformType":"assistant","outcomeType":"media_coverage","outcomeStatus":"unknown","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.thecitizen.co.tz/tanzania/news/international/elderly-man-dies-after-being-deceived-by-ai-chatbot-he-thought-was-a-woman-5154978","primarySourceLabel":"Reuters / The Citizen — 14 August 2025","firstPublishedAt":"2026-01-12T00:33:56.539921+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-05T14:55:46.487025+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["chatbot"]}]}