{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-10T08:03:42.144Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"tasmania","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"core","evidence":"","year":"","response":"","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":2,"coverage":{"cases":2,"countries":1,"languages":1,"unknownLocation":0,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":1,"lawsuits":0,"regulatory":0,"minors":1,"coreRelations":2,"contextualRelations":0,"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-tasmania-weldborough-tour-website-ai-article-invented-hot-springs-travellers-detour","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'An AI-generated article on a travel booking website has sent tourists to a remote location in Tasmania's north-east, looking for hot springs that do not exist.' and 'The website says walkers are greeted by pools \"rich in therapeutic minerals\".' and 'The problem is, the hot springs, as depicted in the imagery, do not exist.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'In a now-deleted article published last July, the Tasmania Tours website suggested visitors go to “Weldborough Hot Springs”, calling it a “peaceful escape” offering an “authentic connection to nature”.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"An AI-generated article on the Tasmania Tours website described \"Weldborough Hot Springs\" in north-east Tasmania as a real attraction with mineral-rich pools; no such hot springs exist.","causal_attribution":"ABC News's own reading of the website article, with the operator's admission; The Independent relays ABC News."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Australian Tours and Cruises has admitted the AI technology it uses to create content and articles to help drive bookings has \"completely messed up\".' and 'He said the company had outsourced marketing material to a third party, which used AI to create some of its content.' and 'Mr Hennessy said all the AI-generated blog posts had been taken down and were being checked thoroughly.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The website operator, Australian Tours and Cruises, said the AI technology used by its third-party content provider had \"completely messed up\", that some posts went live by mistake, and that the AI-generated posts were taken down.","causal_attribution":"The operator's own statements to ABC News."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'I actually had a group of 24 drivers turn up there two days ago that were on a trip from the mainland, and they'd actually taken a detour to come to the hot springs' and 'she was getting daily phone calls and in-person visitors asking about the hot springs, some even wanting to book accommodation.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'It started with a few calls in September, Probert said, and then people began “turning up in droves”.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Travellers who read the article turned up at or telephoned the Weldborough Hotel asking how to find the springs; the publican said she received daily calls and visits and that a group of 24 drivers on a trip from the mainland had taken a detour to find the springs two days before the report.","causal_attribution":"The publican's account as quoted by ABC News and relayed by The Independent; no traveller is interviewed."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Australian Tours and Cruises told CNN that the AI-generated post and the resultant damage to their reputation as well as online hate they received had been “absolutely soul-destroying”.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The operator said that reputational damage and online hate following the episode had been \"absolutely soul-destroying\".","causal_attribution":"The operator's statement to CNN as relayed by The Independent; the CNN article was not inspected."}],"effects":[{"label":"wasted journeys and inquiries by travellers who relied on an AI-written article describing hot springs that do not exist","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01-22/ai-images-of-tasmania-on-tour-website/106253448","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-10; no translation was needed and no human reviewer inspected the text. HTTP 200, full article body retained.","independence_group":"abc-news-weldborough-report-2026-01-22"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/ai-tasmania-tours-weldborough-hot-springs-b2909962.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-10; no translation was needed and no human reviewer inspected the text. HTTP 200, full article body retained.","independence_group":"abc-news-weldborough-report-2026-01-22"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["everyday_life"],"unknowns":["Which AI tool the contractor used and whether the text and images came from one tool or several; no report names it.","How many people in total travelled to or contacted Weldborough; the publican gives one counted group of 24 and otherwise describes daily calls and visits without numbers.","The exact date the article went live (ABC News and The Independent give July 2025) and the dates of individual journeys; the 24-driver group is dated only as two days before the 22 January 2026 report.","Whether any traveller suffered a financial loss beyond the detour; no traveller is interviewed."],"geography":{"basis":"ABC News places the invented springs and the travellers' visits in Weldborough, north-east Tasmania, about two hours' drive from Launceston; the publican describes the group of 24 drivers as being on a trip from the mainland, which places them in Australia. No court proceeding is reported.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["AU"],"affected_person_countries":["AU"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published on one attributed reporting chain: ABC News read the website article, quoted its description of the invented springs, obtained the operator's admission that its outsourced AI content had failed, and quoted the publican who received the misdirected travellers, including a counted group of 24 drivers who detoured to find the springs. The Independent relays that account and adds the operator's statement to CNN. The AI-written article is the described output and the travellers' reliance on it is the described connection to the wasted journeys. All claims stay reported because they rest on one chain and no traveller is interviewed.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-10"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"ABC News describes the article as AI-generated, quotes its text describing \"Weldborough Hot Springs\" as a \"secluded forest retreat\" with pools \"rich in therapeutic minerals\", and reports the operator's admission that the AI technology it uses to create content and articles had \"completely messed up\" and that a third party used AI to create some of its content. The publican connects that article to the harm: travellers who had read about the springs turned up at the hotel asking for directions, and a group of 24 drivers detoured to find them. The reports state the springs do not exist. The tool is not named.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Weldborough, Tasmania: AI-written tour-website article invented hot springs; publican says travellers, including a group of 24 drivers, detoured to find them","summary":"An AI-generated article on the Tasmania Tours booking website described \"Weldborough Hot Springs\", a \"secluded forest retreat\" with pools \"rich in therapeutic minerals\", as one of the best hot-spring experiences in Tasmania. No such springs exist: the Weld River that runs through Weldborough, a small town in north-east Tasmania, is cold. ABC News reported on 22 January 2026 that travellers who read the article had been turning up at the town's pub, the Weldborough Hotel, to ask for directions, and the publican said she was receiving daily calls and visits and that a group of 24 drivers on a trip from the mainland had taken a detour two days earlier to find the springs. ABC News reported that the article was posted in July 2025, and The Independent, citing ABC News and CNN, reported that inquiries began with a few calls in September 2025. The operator, Australian Tours and Cruises, said its outsourced AI content had \"completely messed up\", that some posts had gone live by mistake, and that all AI-generated blog posts had been taken down. The reports describe the travellers only as a group; no individual traveller is interviewed, and the AI tool is not named.","incidentDate":"2025-09-01","incidentEndDate":"2026-01-20","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"single_interaction","reportedDate":"2026-01-22","aiSystem":"Generative AI used by a third-party marketing contractor to write articles and generate images for the Tasmania Tours booking website (operated by Australian Tours and Cruises); the tool is not named in the inspected reports.","aiProduct":"Unidentified AI writing tool","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["other_material_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"According to the publican quoted by ABC News, travellers who relied on the AI-written article made a wasted journey to a remote town to find springs that do not exist: a group of 24 drivers from the mainland detoured to Weldborough two days before the 22 January 2026 report, and the pub received daily phone calls and in-person visits from people asking for the springs, some wanting to book accommodation. The operator told CNN, as relayed by The Independent, that reputational damage and online hate after the episode had been \"absolutely soul-destroying\". No injury, financial figure or individual traveller's account is reported.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":24,"affectedCountStatus":"partial","affectedCountEvidence":"The publican told ABC News that \"a group of 24 drivers\" who had taken a detour to find the springs turned up two days before the report; that quoted figure is the counted minimum of travellers harmed. She also described daily phone calls and in-person visitors over a period, which the reports do not quantify, so the status is partial. The business owners and the operator are not counted as harmed persons. Website readers who did not travel or call are not counted.","victimAgeRange":"unknown","jurisdiction":"AU","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"media_coverage","outcomeStatus":"resolved","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01-22/ai-images-of-tasmania-on-tour-website/106253448","primarySourceLabel":"ABC News, 22 January 2026: tour website's AI sends visitors to Tasmanian sites that do not exist (publican and operator interviews)","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-10T03:15:30.77417+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-10T03:15:30.77417+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["ai-generated-content","travel","tourism","hallucination","australia","tasmania","website","communicated-with","others-use"]},{"id":"2026-tasmania-school-reported-ai-sexual-images-of-girls-shared-in-boys-group-chat","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"have had their images used to make deepfake pornographic material, according to Tasmania Police.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"who told them the AI-altered photos of the girls had been shared in a boys' group chat and that their images appeared to have been taken from social media.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"The faked images of the girls were allegedly shared in a group chat by male students.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"It is understood the incident may have involved the alleged use of AI-generated content.","relation":"context","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"Tasmania Police said, as reported by the ABC, that a number of girls at the school had their likenesses used to make AI-generated sexual images. Two parents said police told them the AI-altered photos were shared in a boys' group chat and appeared to have been taken from social media.","causal_attribution":"A Tasmania Police attribution stated by the ABC and two parents' account of what police told them. The images and the AI tool were not verified by the reviewer and no tool is named."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Parents of two of the children said they were told by police that 21 victims had been identified.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"The parents said police told them 21 girls had been identified as victims.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Two parents said police told them 21 girls had been identified as victims.","causal_attribution":"Second-hand: two parents relaying a police figure to one ABC reporter. Police published no count in the inspected sources."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Five boys are alleged to have created the images and all have since left the school.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Five boys have left the school and police said no charges had been laid.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Five boys are alleged to have created the images and have left the school.","causal_attribution":"An allegation the ABC states in the sentence after the parents' account of what police told them, without naming its source. No charge or finding establishes who created the images."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Both parents said their daughters were struggling with not being able to talk about it with their friends.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"This has created an environment of confusion, isolation, and shame amongst the very girls who need support and solidarity the most.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"The two parents told the ABC their daughters felt isolated and unsupported because they did not know if any of their peers had been told.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"not knowing who to talk to","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Two parents said their daughters felt isolated and unsupported because they did not know whether peers had been told. One mother told the education minister in a letter that the girls' uncertainty about what they could say to students who had not been told had created confusion, isolation and shame among the girls.","causal_attribution":"Parents' accounts relayed by the ABC. No girl is quoted and no clinical assessment is reported."},{"id":"c5","status":"disputed","evidence":[{"locator":"the staff member told her most parents were not going to tell their children they had been identified in the material","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"I felt I was being encouraged not to tell my daughter","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"that most parents were not going to tell their daughters","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"and went on to advise them that most parents were not going to tell their children","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"At no time have families been advised or encouraged to withhold information from their child, nor to prevent their child from speaking with trusted adults.","relation":"contradicts","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Two parents said senior school staff told them most parents were not going to tell their children they had been identified. The school principal wrote to families that at no time had families been advised or encouraged to withhold information.","causal_attribution":"A parents' account and the principal's written denial, both relayed by the ABC. The dispute concerns the school's handling, not how the images were made."},{"id":"c6","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Tasmania Police has received a report regarding alleged illegal online activity involving a group of students at a southern Tasmanian school","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"It is understood the incident may have involved the alleged use of AI-generated content.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"Tasmania Police received a report of alleged illegal online activity involving a group of students at a school in the south of the state. On 19 March 2026 Pulse Tasmania reported that, as the outlet understood it, the incident may have involved AI-generated content.","causal_attribution":"A police spokesperson statement to Pulse Tasmania. The AI involvement is the outlet's understanding and is not attributed to police in this article."},{"id":"c7","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Police said they have spoken to five young people and their parents following concerns about inappropriate online activity.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"},{"locator":"The youths were dealt with under the Youth Justice Act and no charges were laid.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"},{"locator":"Tasmania Police said no charges had been laid, with \"the five youths being dealt with in accordance with the Youth Justice Act\".","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Police spoke to five young people and their parents. No charges were laid and the five youths were dealt with under the Youth Justice Act.","causal_attribution":"Tasmania Police statements given to Pulse Tasmania (27 March 2026) and the ABC (29 April 2026). Both may relay one police position, so no independent corroboration is claimed."}],"effects":[{"label":"Girls reportedly depicted in AI-generated sexual images shared in a boys' group chat","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"},{"label":"Parents report the girls felt isolated, unsupported and unsure whom to talk to","claim_id":"c4","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04-29/tas-friends-school-criticised-after-deepfake-scandal/106577310","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Full article body read (29 April 2026, updated 30 April). Related-story cards on the page were not used.","independence_group":"abc-tasmania-reporting-2026-04"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04-30/tas-friends-school-deny-dont-tell-to-parents-over-deepfakes/106624754","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Full article body read (30 April 2026, updated 1 May). Same reporter and same two parents as s1, so one independence group.","independence_group":"abc-tasmania-reporting-2026-04"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://pulsetasmania.com.au/news/online-activity-of-friends-school-students-under-police-investigation/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Full article body read. Based on a police spokesperson statement and a school letter to parents. Publication date 19 March 2026 from the article header line in the saved text ('Thu March 19, 2026 5:00am'), which matches the published-time metadata in the saved html.","independence_group":"pulse-tasmania-reporting-2026-03"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://pulsetasmania.com.au/news/no-charges-laid-after-friends-school-students-alleged-online-behaviour/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Full article body read. Same outlet and same police and school chain as s3. Publication date 27 March 2026 from the article header line in the saved text ('Fri March 27, 2026 2:52pm'), which matches the published-time metadata in the saved html.","independence_group":"pulse-tasmania-reporting-2026-03"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["education","privacy"],"unknowns":["No source states when the images were created or first shared. The earliest date in the sources is early March 2026, when a parent said the incident was being talked about. An ABC item of 5 July 2026 describes the incident as occurring 'earlier this year', and an ABC podcast page of 8 May 2026 asks what teenagers were doing 'over the school holidays' and says the images 'might not have been created in the classroom'. Neither gives a date, so the event start date is unknown.","The AI tool and the app or platform used for the group chat are not reported.","The girls' ages and school years are not reported. The sources call them girls, students, daughters and children.","The count of 21 comes from two parents relaying what police told them. Police published no count in the inspected sources, and the number of girls not yet told is unknown.","A local outlet quotes a school letter referring to students from the school and from other local schools. Whether students from other schools created, received or were depicted in the images is not reported.","How each girl was affected beyond the parents' accounts is not reported, and no girl is quoted.","The identity of the five youths and any later police or school outcome beyond the dealt-with-under-the-Youth-Justice-Act statement are not reported."],"geography":{"basis":"The sources describe a school in Tasmania, Tasmania Police, a police statement citing the Youth Justice Act and the Tasmanian education minister. No court proceeding is reported.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["AU"],"affected_person_countries":["AU"]},"publication":{"basis":"Reports by the ABC (29 and 30 April 2026) and Pulse Tasmania (19 and 27 March 2026). All claims are reported except one that is disputed (the school's advice to parents): the victim count, the alleged creators and the images come from parents relaying police information and from police statements to the two outlets. The school, students, parents, principal and staff are not named and no image detail is given. No source dates the creation of the images, so the case is published undated and outside the 2026 event-year lane.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-30"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"Tasmania Police, as relayed by the ABC, said girls' likenesses were used to make AI-generated sexual images, and two parents said police described the photos as AI-altered. The first local report (19 March 2026) said only that the incident may have involved AI-generated content. No AI tool is named and the images were not seen by the reviewer.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["depicted_or_impersonated"]},"name":"Girls at a Tasmanian school reportedly depicted in AI-generated sexual images shared in a boys' group chat","summary":"Police in Tasmania received a report about alleged illegal online activity involving a group of students at a school in the south of the state, and on 19 March 2026 a local outlet reported that the incident may have involved AI-generated content. On 29 April 2026 the ABC reported, citing Tasmania Police, that girls at the school had their likenesses used to make AI-generated sexual images. Two parents told the ABC that police said 21 girls had been identified as victims, that the AI-altered photos were shared in a boys' group chat and that the images appeared to have been taken from social media. Five boys are alleged to have created the images and have left the school. Tasmania Police said no charges were laid and the five youths were dealt with under the Youth Justice Act. The parents said their daughters felt isolated and unsupported, and the school principal denied that families were advised to withhold information from their children. The creation date and the AI tool are not reported.","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"unknown","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2026-03-19","aiSystem":"Unspecified AI image-manipulation software","aiProduct":"Unidentified image tool","aiCompany":"Unknown","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["exploitation_or_abuse","psychological_distress"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"Tasmania Police, as relayed by the ABC, said girls' likenesses were used to make AI-generated sexual images, and two parents said police told them 21 girls had been identified as victims. The parents said their daughters felt isolated, unsupported and unsure whom to talk to, and a mother's letter to the education minister describes confusion, isolation and shame among the girls. These are parents' accounts relayed by one outlet and no girl is quoted.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":21,"affectedCountStatus":"documented_minimum","affectedCountEvidence":"Two parents told the ABC that police told them 21 girls had been identified as victims (ABC, 29 and 30 April 2026). The figure is a police count relayed by two parents to one reporter and repeated by the outlet. Police published no count in the inspected sources. 21 is used as a lower bound because it counts identified victims only.","victimAgeRange":"minor","platformType":"other","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04-29/tas-friends-school-criticised-after-deepfake-scandal/106577310","primarySourceLabel":"ABC News (29 Apr 2026): parents criticise a Tasmanian school response after girls were targeted in an AI deepfake incident","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-30T01:09:53.76606+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:44:24.955277+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":[]}]}