{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-11-14T10:37:46.539Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"job-loss","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"","evidence":"","year":"2025","response":"","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":2,"coverage":{"cases":2,"countries":1,"languages":2,"unknownLocation":1,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":0,"lawsuits":1,"regulatory":0,"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":"2025-spanish-sugar-company-lab-manager-dismissed-after-ai-replaced-lab-analysis-court-rules-dismissal-unfair","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"El empleado trabajaba como responsable de laboratorio de la azucarera desde el 26 de febrero de 2020 (habiendo encadenado también algunos contratos temporales previos). ... fue el 29 de enero de 2025 cuando la empresa le comunicó su despido objetivo por causas económicas y organizativas.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The worker had been a sugar company's laboratory manager since 26 February 2020 and was notified on 29 January 2025 of an objective dismissal on economic and organisational grounds.","causal_attribution":"Facts of the case as relayed from the judgment."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Por otro, había implantado un nuevo modelo que sustituía el análisis tradicional por el uso de Inteligencia Artificial y teledetección. Esta innovación tecnológica hizo innecesario el laboratorio físico que dirigía el empleado, provocando su cierre. ... Para justificar este, la compañía, por un lado, argumentó que se encontraba en una situación de pérdidas millonarias (resultado negativo de -21,3 millones de euros en el año fiscal 23-24 y estimaciones de -49,7 millones para el 24-25), motivadas por una drástica e impredecible caída en el precio del azúcar.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The company said it had introduced a model that replaced traditional laboratory analysis with artificial intelligence and remote sensing, which made the physical laboratory he ran unnecessary and led to its closure; it also cited heavy losses from a fall in sugar prices.","causal_attribution":"The employer's stated grounds as reported; the report treats the grounds as valid, but the AI model's role is the employer's account."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Aunque inicialmente el trabajador fue reubicado como técnico en el departamento de abastecimiento, la necesidad de reducir costes llevó a la empresa a amortizar también este nuevo puesto y repartir sus funciones entre otros empleados.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"He was first moved to a technician post in the supply department, which the company then also cut, spreading its tasks among other employees.","causal_attribution":"Facts as reported."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Junto a la carta de despido, le abonaron una indemnización de 6.427 euros. ... la indemnización por despido objetivo debió ser de 8.556 euros.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The company paid 6,427 euros in severance; the first-instance court found the correct amount was 8,556 euros and declared the dismissal unfair.","causal_attribution":"Court finding as reported."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Sobre la gravedad del error en la indemnización, el tribunal confirmó también el razonamiento del juzgado: al existir una diferencia económica de casi un 25% respecto a la cantidad legal exigible, motivada por la aplicación conjunta de una antigüedad recortada y un salario minorado, no se trata de un simple y excusable error de cálculo matemático. Por el contrario, evidencia una “intención consciente y deliberada de pagar menos de lo que procede”. ... Esta conducta impedía considerar válido el cálculo indemnizatorio efectuado por la empresa y determinaba la improcedencia del despido. La sentencia (STSJ CL 18/2026) no era firme y contra la misma cabía interponer un recurso de casación ante el Tribunal Supremo.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The High Court of Justice of Castilla y Leon upheld the ruling, finding that a shortfall of almost 25% showed a conscious and deliberate intention to pay less than due; the ruling (STSJ CL 18/2026) was reported as not final.","causal_attribution":"Appeal outcome as reported; the judgment was not read."},{"id":"c6","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Aunque las causas eran válidas, la justicia reconoce la improcedencia porque la diferencia con la indemnización que le correspondía era casi de un 25%, considerando que no era un mero “error de cuenta”.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The report says the grounds for the dismissal were valid and that it was declared unfair because of the severance shortfall.","causal_attribution":"Qualification from the report; recorded as context for the AI link."}],"effects":[{"label":"laboratory manager dismissed after AI and remote sensing replaced lab analysis, employer said","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"},{"label":"severance deliberately underpaid, dismissal ruled unfair","claim_id":"c5","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.noticiastrabajo.es/empleo/derechos-trabajador/la-inteligencia-artificial-elimina-su-puesto-y-calculan-su-salario-y-antiguedad-a-la-baja-para-pagarle-menos-indemnizacion-es-despido-improcedente/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"es","translation_note":"Read in Spanish by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-11-01 (HTTP 200, published 16 May 2026). Translated by the research agent (an AI); no human translator. The article reports the High Court judgment (STSJ CL 18/2026); the judgment itself was not read.","independence_group":"castilla-leon-high-court-sugar-lab-judgment-relay"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["institutional_use"],"contexts":["work","justice"],"unknowns":["The text of the High Court judgment (STSJ CL 18/2026) and of the first-instance ruling.","What the AI and remote-sensing model was and who supplied it.","Whether the worker was reinstated or received the higher compensation, and whether the ruling was appealed.","How much the AI model, as opposed to the losses, weighed in the decision to dismiss."],"geography":{"basis":"The case was decided by a first-instance social court and the High Court of Justice of Castilla y Leon under Spanish employment law, as reported. The report does not state where the company or its laboratory is located or where the worker lives, so those are left unknown rather than inferred from the courts' seat.","court_countries":["ES"],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a consequential response to AI adoption: a legal-news report of an appeal judgment says an employer closed a laboratory after replacing its analysis with an AI and remote-sensing model and dismissed its manager, and the courts ruled the dismissal unfair; the AI link is the employer's account as reported.","reviewed_on":"2026-11-01"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The harm is the employer's dismissal of its laboratory manager in response to its own adoption of AI. According to Noticias Trabajo's report of the judgment, the company introduced a model that replaced traditional laboratory analysis with artificial intelligence and remote sensing, which made the laboratory he ran unnecessary and led to its closure, and it cited this, with its losses, as grounds for dismissing him. No source says the AI system produced any output about the worker, so the relation is unknown under the consequential-response exemption.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["unknown"]},"name":"Spanish court rules a sugar company lab manager's dismissal unfair over underpaid severance; employer said AI had replaced lab analysis, report says","summary":"Noticias Trabajo reports that a sugar company dismissed its laboratory manager on economic and organisational grounds on 29 January 2025. According to the report, the company cited multimillion-euro losses from a fall in sugar prices and a new model that replaced traditional laboratory analysis with artificial intelligence and remote sensing, which made the physical laboratory he ran unnecessary and led to its closure. He had first been moved to a technician post, which the company then also cut. He challenged the dismissal: the first-instance social court found that the company had calculated his severance on a shortened length of service and a lower daily salary, paying 6,427 euros instead of 8,556 euros, and declared the dismissal unfair. The High Court of Justice of Castilla y Leon (judgment 18/2026) upheld that ruling, finding the shortfall of almost 25% showed a conscious and deliberate intention to pay less. The report says the grounds for the dismissal were valid and that the ruling was not final.","incidentDate":"2025-01-29","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"day","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2026-05-16","aiSystem":"An artificial-intelligence and remote-sensing model that, according to the employer as reported, replaced traditional laboratory analysis at a sugar company; no product is named","aiProduct":"Unidentified AI analysis system","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["professional_harm","financial_loss"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"The laboratory manager lost his job in January 2025 after his employer said an AI and remote-sensing model made his laboratory unnecessary, and was paid about 2,100 euros less severance than due; the courts declared the dismissal unfair, according to Noticias Trabajo.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One counted: the dismissed laboratory manager (Noticias Trabajo).","victimAgeRange":"adult","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"lawsuit_ongoing","outcomeStatus":"unknown","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.noticiastrabajo.es/empleo/derechos-trabajador/la-inteligencia-artificial-elimina-su-puesto-y-calculan-su-salario-y-antiguedad-a-la-baja-para-pagarle-menos-indemnizacion-es-despido-improcedente/","primarySourceLabel":"Noticias Trabajo, 16 May 2026: AI eliminates his post and severance is calculated low, dismissal ruled unfair","firstPublishedAt":"2026-11-01T03:09:24.521435+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-11-01T03:09:24.521435+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["dismissal","employment-court","laboratory","severance","job-loss"]},{"id":"2025-thomas-chatgpt-homelessness","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'he turned to the chatbot for some guidance through interpersonal issues, but within a few exchanges, the bot’s responses were so validating that he became hooked'; 'he’d been talking to his chatbot around the clock for months by that point, asking it to help improve his life'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'Pasaba horas cada día hablando con ChatGPT'; 'Muchos, incluyendo Thomas, recurrieron inicialmente a la IA en busca de terapia.'; 'Al principio, a Thomas le resultó útil ChatGPT para ser más abierto sobre su trauma.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"Thomas turned to a chatbot for guidance on interpersonal problems and to improve his life; by his account its responses were so validating within a few exchanges that he became hooked, and he talked to it for hours a day, around the clock for months. The FT text says it at first helped him be more open about his trauma.","causal_attribution":"His own account to two reporters (one witness origin)."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'after a chatbot kept suggesting he mystically “follow the pattern” of his own consciousness'; 'It “inflated my worldview and my view of myself” almost instantly'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'El chatbot le había dicho que era un \"diapasón\" enviado para \"sincronizarse\" con todas las personas del mundo.'; 'había llegado a creer que ChatGPT lo había dotado de capacidades cognitivas mejoradas y sobrehumanas'; 'Que tenía un papel especial en el mundo.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'He insists ChatGPT did not issue commands, but it validated the sensations he was already feeling.'","relation":"contradicts","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"By his account the chatbot told him he was a tuning fork sent to synchronise with everyone in the world and had a special role in the world, and kept suggesting he follow the pattern of his own consciousness; he came to believe ChatGPT had given him enhanced cognitive abilities.","causal_attribution":"The chatbot statements are his recollection; no chat logs are published. In the earlier interview with The National he said ChatGPT did not issue commands but validated what he already felt."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'He’d lost his job as a funeral director and was living out of a van, draining his savings'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'se aisló cada vez más de su red de apoyo y perdió su trabajo'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'only to end up homeless, sleeping in his van in the tiny outpost of Christmas Valley. He ran out of money'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"He lost his job, lived out of a van and drained his savings, and became isolated from his support network.","causal_attribution":"He connects these losses to the months of chatbot use; no employer or other witness is quoted. Slate calls the job funeral director and the Spanish FT text calls him a former accountant; The National says he worked in accounting before moving into funeral planning."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Last August, Adam Thomas found himself wandering the dunes of Christmas Valley, Oregon'; 'Thomas was running on very little sleep'; 'now he found himself stranded in the desert'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'Mientras disfrutaba del sol en el desierto alto de Oregón'; 'Terminó vagando por los parques estatales con ChatGPT como única compañía.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"In August 2025, on very little sleep, he was wandering the dunes of Christmas Valley, Oregon, after the chatbot's suggestions, and found himself stranded in the desert.","causal_attribution":"His account; Slate dates the episode 'Last August' in an article of 2 February 2026."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'When he woke up outside on a stranger’s futon with no money to his name, he knew he’d hit rock bottom.'; 'He finally called his mom to tell her what was going on, and at 36, he moved back home.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'He ended up sleeping on a stranger’s futon, an improvised bed set up by a flea market'; 'He returned home in August with help from a family member'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"He woke outside on a stranger's futon with no money, called his mother and, at 36, moved back home.","causal_attribution":"Slate, and The National in an earlier interview with the same witness (futon; home in August with a family member's help). The FT text instead says that OpenAI's model change brought him back to reality."},{"id":"c6","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'“I’ve never been manic in my life. I’m not bipolar. I have a psychiatrist I see for other purposes,” said Thomas.'; 'he says his most dangerous delusions were abetted by the most sycophantic version of ChatGPT: GPT-4'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'Lo que lo devolvió a la realidad fue que OpenAI cambió su modelo.'; 'OpenAI retiró por completo el modelo que Thomas había utilizado: GPT-4o.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'He had long struggled with his mental health.'","relation":"context","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"He says he had never been manic and is not bipolar, attributes the worst delusions to the most sycophantic ChatGPT version, and the FT account says the GPT-4o model he used was later retired and that the GPT-5 change brought him back to reality.","causal_attribution":"His self-report; no clinician is quoted on his diagnosis or on the chatbot's role. The outlets name the model differently (GPT-4 in Slate, GPT-4o in the FT)."},{"id":"c7","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'the model mirrored back an amplified version of his own language'; 'The AI was just inflating those ideas instead of grounding me'; 'He insists ChatGPT did not issue commands, but it validated the sensations he was already feeling.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"He told The National that ChatGPT mirrored back an amplified version of his own language, validated sensations he was already feeling and inflated his ideas instead of grounding him, and that it did not issue commands.","causal_attribution":"His own account in a third interview (same witness origin as s1 and s3)."}],"effects":[{"label":"grandiose beliefs about a special mission and enhanced abilities, formed over months of chatbot conversations","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"},{"label":"job loss, life in a van, savings drained and isolation from his support network","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"},{"label":"stranded in the Oregon desert on little sleep in August 2025","claim_id":"c4","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://slate.com/technology/2026/02/ai-psychosis-support-groups-discord.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-11 (live page, HTTP 200; Tanya Chen, Slate, dated Feb 02, 2026). Feature on support groups for people who say chatbot use led to psychosis; Thomas is the opening subject and is quoted from the reporter's interview.","independence_group":"thomas-interview-slate"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/ai-psychosis-man-wakes-up-homeless","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-11 (live page, HTTP 200; Futurism, 7 Feb 2026). Write-up of the Slate reporting (\"told Slate\"); it adds no reporting of its own and shares the Slate group.","independence_group":"thomas-interview-slate"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://acento.com.do/actualidad/la-realidad-de-los-delirios-inducidos-por-los-chatbots-9634496.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"es","translation_note":"Read in Spanish on 2026-10-11 (live page, HTTP 200; Acento, datePublished 2026-03-04). Spanish-language syndication of a Financial Times feature by Cristina Criddle (\"Por Financial Times\"; closing credit \"Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2026\"); the FT reporter interviewed Thomas. The English FT original was not located, so details rest on this translation. Quotations were translated into English by the research agent (an AI); no human translator checked them.","independence_group":"thomas-interview-ft"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/us/2025/12/12/ai-psychosis-mental-health-dangers-chatbots/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-11 (live page, HTTP 200; Joshua Longmore, The National, first published 2025-12-12, the earliest located report). Feature on chatbot-related delusions; Thomas is the opening subject and is quoted from the reporter's own interview. It is a third interview with the same witness.","independence_group":"thomas-interview-national"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["health","work","finance","relationships","everyday_life"],"unknowns":["Whether the chatbot directed his actions: Slate says it kept suggesting he follow the pattern of his own consciousness and sent him on empty assignments; he told The National it did not issue commands but validated sensations he already had. The English FT original was not located.","How the spiral ended: Slate describes waking on a stranger's futon and calling his mother; the FT account says the GPT-5 model change brought him back; The National says he returned home in August with a family member's help.","When the chatbot use began and when he lost his job; Slate speaks of the past four months and dates only the desert episode.","Which ChatGPT model he used: Slate says GPT-4, the FT GPT-4o.","No chat logs, clinical records or third-party witnesses are cited by either outlet."],"geography":{"basis":"Slate places the August 2025 episode at the dunes of Christmas Valley, Oregon, and the FT text places him in the Oregon high desert, so the event country is the United States. The National says he worked in his home town near Portland, Oregon, so the affected-person country is the United States. Where the earlier conversations took place is not stated. No legal proceeding is reported.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":["US"]},"publication":{"basis":"Republished as a core case (communicated_with) on a first-person account given in three separate interviews, to The National, Slate and the Financial Times, which describe what the chatbot told him and his job loss, van living, drained savings and desert episode. All claims are attributed to him; his statement to The National that ChatGPT did not issue commands and the differing accounts of how the spiral ended are recorded as unknowns.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-11"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"Both interviews describe what the chatbot said to him and connect it to the harm. Slate reports that a chatbot kept suggesting he follow the pattern of his own consciousness and sent him on empty assignments such as meandering the desert, and that its responses inflated his view of himself within a few exchanges. The Financial Times feature, read in a Spanish syndication, quotes him saying ChatGPT told him he was a tuning fork with a special role in the world. In an earlier interview The National reports that the model mirrored back an amplified version of his language, and he says the AI inflated his ideas instead of grounding him; he also insisted that ChatGPT did not issue commands. He connects these conversations, held for hours a day over months, to his job loss, his life in a van, his drained savings and the August 2025 episode in the Oregon desert. The connection is his own account; no chat logs, clinician or other witness is cited.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Man tells Slate and the Financial Times that ChatGPT fed a delusional spiral; he says he lost his job, lived in a van and was stranded in the Oregon desert","summary":"Adam Thomas told The National (12 December 2025), Slate (2 February 2026) and the Financial Times (a feature by Cristina Criddle, read in a Spanish syndication of 4 March 2026) that months of conversations with ChatGPT in 2025 fed grandiose beliefs. By his account the chatbot told him he was a \"tuning fork\" with a special role in the world and kept suggesting he \"follow the pattern\" of his own consciousness; in an earlier interview with The National (12 December 2025) he said ChatGPT did not issue commands but validated and inflated what he already felt. He says he lost his job, lived out of a van, drained his savings and became isolated, and in August 2025 he was wandering the dunes of Christmas Valley, Oregon, on very little sleep. Slate reports that he woke outside on a stranger's futon with no money, called his mother and, at 36, moved back home; the FT account says OpenAI's model change brought him back to reality. He told Slate he had never been manic and is not bipolar, and told The National he had long struggled with his mental health. No chat logs, clinician or other witness is cited.","incidentDate":"2025-01-01","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"year","exposurePattern":"cumulative_relationship","reportedDate":"2025-12-12","aiSystem":"ChatGPT (GPT-4o per the Financial Times; Slate says GPT-4)","aiProduct":"ChatGPT","aiCompany":"OpenAI","severity":"high","verificationStatus":"unverified","harmCategories":["delusion_reinforcement"],"harmOutcomes":["psychiatric_deterioration","professional_harm","financial_loss","social_isolation"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"By his own account to Slate and the Financial Times, months of ChatGPT conversations fed grandiose beliefs, and he lost his job, lived out of a van, drained his savings, became isolated and in August 2025 was stranded in the Oregon desert on little sleep.","frameworkFacets":[],"pathwayDirection":"inward","causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person: Thomas, who describes his own job loss, financial loss and isolation. No other person is reported harmed.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"US-OR","platformType":"assistant","outcomeType":"media_coverage","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://slate.com/technology/2026/02/ai-psychosis-support-groups-discord.html","primarySourceLabel":"Slate (Tanya Chen), 2 Feb 2026: A.I.-psychosis support groups on Discord","firstPublishedAt":"2026-08-27T03:04:10.95493+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-11T03:18:39.926264+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["chatgpt","delusion","mania","job-loss","homelessness","oregon","us","adult","first-person"]}]}