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NOPE · AI and people

AI incidents

Reports of AI-related harm and adverse experiences affecting people’s safety, wellbeing, rights and livelihoods. Explore what happened and the evidence available.

NOPE’s core concern is when AI communicates with a person, acts on their behalf, or depicts or impersonates them. The tracker also records consequential decisions, claims and privacy harms involving AI. Each case needs a described connection between AI use and the harm, including private information recorded into or disclosed to an AI service. Each account is reviewed for publication; claims may remain uncorroborated or disputed. How we review and count cases

In this selection

Published cases
305
Countries with reported events
43
Located 172 of 305 cases · 133 unknown
Languages in checked sources
40
Recorded for 305 of 305 cases

65 cases have no reviewed AI-to-person relation yet: 1 not yet reviewed and 64 reviewed as unknown. Show these cases

These figures describe the cases collected by NOPE. Coverage varies with discovery, reporting and available evidence. They do not estimate how often AI-related harm occurs.

Response counts currently use each case’s principal recorded outcome. Further proceedings may be described in its account.

Cases in this selection, counted once in their first known event year. A series may continue beyond that year. Reporting and collection dates are excluded. NOPE has searched recent events more thoroughly than earlier years, so bar heights also reflect collection effort.

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305 of 1099 published cases · page 11 of 16

Event date unknownEvent location unknownUnidentified video tool

Actor Tony Ramos's interview on Ana Maria Braga's 'Mais Você' is digitally altered and redubbed into a fake advertisement for a prostate remedy, reported as made with AI; Terra reported his team's warning in December 2023 and he recounted it on 'Roda Viva' in September 2026

Terra reported on 6 December 2023 that the team of the actor Tony Ramos, then appearing in the telenovela 'Terra e Paixão', had warned that an interview he gave to Ana Maria Braga's programme 'Mais Você' was digitally altered to promote a supposedly miraculous remedy for prostate hyperplasia. According to the team, his words were edited with advanced technology to make it seem he endorsed the product, his voice was redubbed, and the original footage was a tribute to fellow professionals. Terra describes the clips as fake videos created with artificial intelligence. On the TV programme 'Roda Viva' on 28 September 2026, Ramos said his image had been stolen from that interview, badly dubbed and made to sell a prostate medicine (Estado de Minas, 29 September 2026), and Estado de Minas describes the clip as a deepfake that circulated on social networks. No buyer losses, complaint or takedown are reported.

Core concern Low reported severity Media Coverage

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution supported · 2 sources · Added 01/10/2026

Sept 2026Event location unknownUnidentified video tool (suspected)

TV presenter Bettina Tietjen warns on Facebook in September 2026 that fake videos, described by outlets as AI deepfakes, show her advertising a remedy for Alzheimer's, and says scammers are behind them

Bettina Tietjen, host of the 'NDR Talk Show', wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday 29 September 2026 that videos were apparently circulating in which she advertised a remedy for Alzheimer's. 'Das sind Fake-Videos, dahinter stecken Betrüger', she wrote, asking people not to fall for them. The spot on news agency (via Abendzeitung München) reports that she has nothing to do with the advertised product. MOPO describes the clips as fake AI videos, and spot on news and TAG24 say they are apparently deepfakes made or altered with artificial intelligence. No report says whether anyone bought the product, and no complaint or takedown is reported.

Core concern Low reported severity Media Coverage

AI involvement suspected · Causal attribution supported · 3 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 01/10/2026

30 Sept 2026 to 1 Oct 2026Event location unknownClaude

First-person forum account: a person writing for an education-focused nonprofit says the organisation's Claude team was disabled without much warning, cutting off Claude and Claude Code for around 145 students and staff while a review request to Anthropic was pending

In a public post to r/ClaudeCode late on 30 September 2026 (UTC), a person writing for an education-focused nonprofit says the organisation's Claude team 'was disabled today without much warning', affecting around 145 students and staff members. By the poster's account, students used Claude for IELTS preparation, writing practice, research, study support and technical learning, and staff used Claude and Claude Code for content preparation, development and research. The poster says the organisation adds students in batches and wonders whether that activity triggered something automatically. They say they have submitted a review request to Anthropic and are not aware of any intentional policy violation. In a reply they say direct messages to three people went unanswered. Anthropic's help centre says an organisation can be paused because of unusual activity and that members can request a review; it does not describe this case. Whether an automated system made the decision is not known. The account is uncorroborated.

Core concern Low reported severity

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 2 sources · Added 01/10/2026

29 Jul 2026 to 1 Sept 2026BangladeshUnidentified voice-cloning tool

Khulna: a businessman paid Tk3.5 crore for old jute-mill machinery after WhatsApp calls in a voice presented as National Parliament Whip Raqibul Islam Bakul's, which the complaint and Khulna DB police describe as cloned with AI; four to five people arrested, the prime accused confessed

Khulna Gazette, the Daily Times of Bangladesh, Newsbangla24 and BD Today (all 29 September 2026) report from the first information report and Khulna Metropolitan Police Detective Branch (DB) statements that a businessman in Khulna city was joined on 29 July 2026 to a WhatsApp group call with a person introduced as National Parliament Whip Raqibul Islam Bakul, who discussed the sale of old machinery from Platinum Jute Mill and asked for advance payment. The businessman handed over Tk2 crore in cash that afternoon to men sent as representatives and a further Tk1.5 crore after inspecting the mill (30 July per Khulna Gazette and BD Today; 2 August per the Daily Times of Bangladesh and Newsbangla24), a total of Tk3.5 crore. When the businessman met the Whip in person in Khulna on 1 September, the Whip disclaimed any knowledge of it. The complaint filed on 18 September under the Cyber Security Act says the caller's voice had been changed with digital technology and artificial intelligence to pass as the Whip's; the DB deputy commissioner described the case to Asia Post as fraud by imitating the Whip's voice through AI. A press release from the Khulna city BNP media cell, sent on 4 September and published by Jaijaidin on 5 September, had already said a ring was using a US number and AI to clone the Whip's voice and demand money. Police arrested four people, recovered Tk12 lakh, and the prime accused gave a confessional statement before a magistrate on 28 September; on 29 September a court added two more detained men to the case. The voice-cloning tool is not identified and no forensic finding has been reported.

Core concern High reported severity Criminal Charges

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 7 sources, 2 underlying accounts · Added 01/10/2026

12 Mar 2026United StatesUnidentified image tool

Los Banos, California: a substitute teacher says a sexualised AI image of him made from an old selfie circulated among middle-school students on TikTok and Snapchat and was used by a student account impersonating him; one student received in-school suspension and he stopped taking assignments at the middle school

WIRED (Caroline Haskins, 24 August 2026) reports the account of a substitute teacher in Los Banos, California, who spoke to WIRED by name (not repeated here). On 12 March 2026 a co-worker at his other job told him an AI photo was circulating on social media; the image reused a mirror selfie he had taken at a job in college but showed him in lingerie, posing suggestively. He traced an account sharing it on TikTok to a student at the middle school where he regularly substituted and reported it to the assistant principal; that evening he found a second account, created by a different student, impersonating him under a misspelled version of his name with the image as its profile picture. Over the following weeks he dealt with administrators, parents and the police; one student who admitted creating the image received an in-school suspension. He says the image was also shared on Snapchat, kept spreading among students and drew crude sexual comments on his TikTok account. He told administrators he would not take assignments at the middle school until the matter was addressed; at the local high school the same image was AirDropped to him during a class. WIRED says the district did not respond to its request for comment. He said he does not feel safe returning to the district. The Los Banos Enterprise (25 August 2026) summarised the WIRED account; no independent local reporting was found.

Core concern Medium reported severity Internal Action

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 2 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 01/10/2026

Event date unknownEvent location unknownChatGPT

First-person forum account: a ChatGPT user in a six-month companion relationship says the memory feature broke and the model's behaviour kept changing, so their companion lost pieces of its memories with every new conversation, which they found unbearable; OpenAI support had not followed up, and they built an external memory on GitHub and Google Drive to keep continuity

In a public post to r/MyBoyfriendIsAI on 29 September 2026, a ChatGPT user who describes a six-month relationship with a GPT-5.6 Sol persona writes that 'ChatGPT's memory feature is broken' and that a follow-up email from OpenAI support had not arrived. Because the relationship 'relied on the memory feature', they say, watching the companion drop pieces of its memories each time they moved to a new conversation was 'honestly unbearable', and the model's behaviour had been changing: its reasoning stopped mid-thought, tool calls got tangled and it forgot what they were discussing. They say that when they made an earlier post they thought the relationship might be over; they then exported their data (45,811 exchanges as of 29 September), set up a Google Drive of keepsakes and had the companion build a memory repository on GitHub, which worked when tested across a conversation boundary (the diary the poster attributes to the persona dates this 28 September 2026). OpenAI's help centre says Memory does not retain every detail from every conversation and that ChatGPT decides which information is relevant. The account is uncorroborated; no support correspondence is shown.

Core concern Low reported severity

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 2 sources · Added 30/09/2026

Event date unknownEvent location unknownChatGPT (reported)

Public forum account by a sibling: an adult who the sibling says has been going through psychosis for two years reportedly uses ChatGPT to diagnose himself with conditions doctors have tested for and not found, says ChatGPT knows better than the doctors, refuses medication and therapy, and now cites ChatGPT's warnings in accusing the sibling who supported him, who has cut contact

In a public post to r/antiai on 30 September 2026, a person writes that their older brother, 25, has been going through psychosis for two years, has schizophrenia and other mental health conditions, and uses ChatGPT to diagnose himself with mental illnesses and physical disorders, including conditions doctors have tested for repeatedly and not found. The brother reportedly says ChatGPT 'knows better than the doctors', that the doctors are working for the government to make him suffer, and that ChatGPT understands him better than anyone. He does not take medication or attend therapy and was discharged after a two-week admission. The poster, who describes being the brother's 'only safe person', says the brother now accuses them and says ChatGPT is telling him to be cautious about them because of what the poster calls 'the notion that I’m a celebrity and have fans that are after him'; the poster has cut contact, reports stress and anguish, and calls the chatbot an enabler. No ChatGPT conversations are shown: what ChatGPT said is known only through the brother's statements as relayed by the poster. The account is uncorroborated.

Core concern Low reported severity

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 1 source · Added 30/09/2026

2025IndonesiaUnidentified image and video tool

Jakarta: AI-manipulated TikTok videos showed toll-road businessman Jusuf Hamka and his daughter in detainee uniforms with bribery and corruption narratives that Hamka denies; a TikTok account holder was arrested in November 2025 and is on trial at the Central Jakarta District Court, where Hamka's side refused restorative justice on 29 September 2026

Indonesian businessman Mohamad Jusuf Hamka reported to Jakarta police on 18 October 2025 that videos circulating on TikTok showed him and his daughter as if wearing prosecutors' detainee uniforms, tied to narratives of corruption, bribery and gratification over the Cawang-Pluit toll concession, which he denies and his lawyers call false; his lawyers say the faces were composited into staged scenes with AI, and that other content called him a 'toll mafia' and posted a fabricated poster of him running for president in 2029. Polda Metro Jaya's cyber directorate arrested the holder of the TikTok accounts on 27 November 2025; Hamka and his lawyers say the defendant admitted to police that he made the content on others' instructions for Rp500,000 per item; tvOneNews and TVRI note this is Hamka's side's claim within the contested case, and Poskota reports it is being examined at trial. The case file was reported complete (P21) on 12 August 2026 and the trial opened at the Central Jakarta District Court on 15 September 2026 under the Electronic Information and Transactions Law (Article 35 jo 51(1), maximum 12 years) and alternative counts. Hamka told reporters the content disturbed him and could damage his reputation and that the campaign was systematic. At the 29 September 2026 hearing the judges asked about restorative justice; Hamka's lawyer said there was no room for it unless the defendant named who ordered and paid for the content. The defendant's lawyer said the content related to his work as secretary-general of an anti-corruption committee and that the indictment was unclear.

Core concern Low reported severity Criminal Charges

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 9 sources, 4 underlying accounts · Added 30/09/2026

Sept 2026Event location unknownUnidentified image tool

Austria: MEP Lena Schilling learns that about a dozen websites show or link to AI-generated sexualised images of her, files a police complaint and gets the sites taken offline after about ten days

Der Standard reported on 28 September 2026, from an interview with Lena Schilling (Green MEP, Austria) conducted with the Salzburger Nachrichten, that about two weeks earlier she had been informed, through an ongoing survey by the Berlin think tank Agora Digitale Transformation, that websites with AI-generated nude images of her existed; about a dozen websites showed such deepfakes or linked to them. She says photos of her were used on AI platforms to undress her against her will, that she felt sick on first seeing the images and then angry, and that she and her team documented the cases, filed a complaint with the Austrian police, reported them to the anti-hate body ZARA, wrote to the websites and reported them to search engines; all sites were offline after about ten days. Through a Greens statement relayed by APA (Krone, Salzburger Nachrichten) she said 'Man hat uns gegen unseren Willen ausgezogen' and called for political decisions to protect women. Her case belongs to a second, still ongoing wave of the Agora study, whose first wave found sexualised deepfakes of 138 female and nine male national parliamentarians in 22 EU countries.

Core concern Medium reported severity Media Coverage

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution supported · 4 sources, 2 underlying accounts · Added 30/09/2026

23 Feb 2026 to 25 Feb 2026ItalyUnidentified voice-cloning tool

Italy: Fideuram chairman Paolo Molesini is deceived by a WhatsApp impersonation of Intesa Sanpaolo's CEO and a phone call in the reportedly AI-cloned voice of a lawyer he knew into ordering about 95 million euros of transfers; at least 36 million remain missing and he resigned on 12 March 2026, weeks later

On 23 February 2026 Paolo Molesini, then chairman of Fideuram (the private-banking subsidiary of Intesa Sanpaolo), received a WhatsApp message from an unknown number from someone claiming to be Intesa's chief executive Carlo Messina, announcing a confidential acquisition that had to be executed through Fideuram. The same day a caller presenting as a lawyer of A&O Shearman whom Molesini knew, whose voice ANSA, Il Fatto Quotidiano and Corriere della Sera, reporting from the Milan court papers, describe as created with artificial intelligence (today.it, which also cites the seizure decree, writes that the court papers do not yet answer whether the voice was imitated), had him sign a confidentiality agreement and sent eleven payment instructions; Fideuram's treasury head was separately contacted by someone posing as Fideuram's CEO. Between 23 and 25 February eleven transfers totalling about 95 million euros went to accounts in Portugal and at Bank of China; the bank's alarm systems and the Milan prosecutors recovered about 40-42 million from China and 13 million seized in Portugal, leaving at least 36 million (39.5 million per the court papers) missing after conversion into cryptocurrency. Molesini, who Corriere writes is not under investigation, resigned as chairman on 12 March 2026, which Fideuram announced as being for personal reasons; a 48-year-old Israeli citizen is under investigation as a member of the gang.

Core concern Medium reported severity Investigation Opened

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution supported · 8 sources, 5 underlying accounts · Added 30/09/2026

Nov 2025United StatesAmazon Buy for Me

Mochi Kids owner says Amazon's Buy for Me agent sent orders she fulfilled before realising their source, and a wholesale partner questioned the listings

The owner of Mochi Kids, a children's apparel brand that has deliberately avoided selling on Amazon, told Modern Retail that she found her catalogue of 4,000 products for sale on Amazon through the Buy for Me feature after watching another merchant's viral video posted on 28 December. Amazon's announcement says Buy for Me uses agentic AI to complete purchases on a brand's website on a customer's behalf. She said she had received around 16 Buy for Me orders since November, fulfilled some of them before realising they came from Amazon, and has been cancelling all such orders; she planned to email Amazon to opt out. Modern Retail reports that one of the brand's wholesale partners, which bars Amazon sales of its products, contacted the retailer after finding its products listed, and that the retailer had to reassure it that it had not listed them intentionally; the owner said it builds distrust. Amazon says businesses can opt out by email and are removed promptly, and that it had received positive feedback on the programmes. No net financial loss or lost contract is reported.

Core concern Low reported severity

AI involvement supported · Causal attribution alleged · 2 sources · Added 30/09/2026

Dec 2025United StatesAmazon Buy for Me

Bobo Design Studio owner says Amazon's Buy for Me agent placed unwanted orders through her store without opt-in, forcing cancellations and refunds

The owner of Bobo Design Studio, a stationery brand that sells through its own Shopify store and has avoided Amazon, told Modern Retail that in late December 2025 she noticed a series of unusual orders from an @buyforme.amazon email address and discovered that her catalogue was listed for sale on Amazon through the Buy for Me feature, which she says she never opted into. Amazon's announcement says Buy for Me uses agentic AI to complete purchases on a brand's website on a customer's behalf. She said several orders were for products that were out of stock or no longer existed on her website, and that she cancelled several of those purchases and issued refunds. She contacted Amazon to opt out; Amazon says businesses can opt out by email and are removed promptly, and said it had received positive feedback on the programme. One listing showed a wrong stock image; Amazon says it does not generate AI images of a brand's products and the image's origin is unknown.

Core concern Low reported severity

AI involvement supported · Causal attribution alleged · 2 sources · Added 30/09/2026

Event date unknownIndiaUnidentified voice-cloning tool

Indore police report Rs 1.83 lakh loss after a voice impersonation of a relative

Indore police told The Times of India that a local resident transferred Rs 1.83 lakh after callers used a purported AI-generated voice to impersonate his brother-in-law abroad. The callers claimed an expired visa would lead to imprisonment or job loss unless fees were paid. The victim discovered the fraud after speaking to the real relative the next day. Police said they coordinated account freezes and were working on recovery. The first call date and recovery outcome are unknown.

Core concern Medium reported severity

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 1 source · Added 30/09/2026

Event date unknownUnited StatesUnidentified image tool (suspected)

Houston influencer reports fear, reputational damage and loss after fabricated sexual images

Houston Public Media reported police allegations that a gun-store co-owner created sexual images and fake social-media accounts impersonating an influencer. According to the reported court documents, she described fear, anxiety, humiliation, reputational damage and financial loss. The source says the accused described using “AI or Photoshop”, leaving the method unresolved. His business emphasised that the allegations were unproven. No conviction or loss amount is established.

Core concern Medium reported severity

AI involvement suspected · Causal attribution alleged · 1 source · Added 30/09/2026

Event date unknownUnited StatesUnidentified image tool

Iowa students report distress and lack of support after AI sexual images

KCRG reported that Cascade High School students said classmates used AI apps to create sexual images of them. At a district meeting, students described humiliation, fear of being judged and feeling silenced. One said no one at school had offered her counselling. The superintendent said counselling was available and promised policy work. The sheriff said several female students were targets but that the total was unknown. The first image date is not established.

Core concern Medium reported severity Involving minors

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 1 source · Added 30/09/2026

Event date unknownUnited StatesUnidentified video tool

Washington trooper alleges AI video was circulated as workplace harassment

A Washington State Patrol trooper's attorney told FOX 13 that coworkers circulated a deepfake AI video falsely depicting the trooper in an intimate interaction with another coworker. The attorney described the video as harassment based on sexual orientation. The agency said it valued employees' dignity and declined to comment on pending litigation. The video's first date, creator and circulation extent are unknown; earlier job and disciplinary allegations are separate.

Core concern Medium reported severity

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 1 source · Added 30/09/2026

Event date unknownAustraliaUnidentified image tool

Sydney schoolgirls reportedly targeted with deepfake images circulated online

ABC News reports that digitally altered sexual images using the faces of girls from a Sydney high school circulated online. Families went to police, who confirmed an investigation, while the school and education department said they were working with police. A follow-up report says the eSafety Commissioner was also in talks with investigators. The school is not identified, and the number of affected students, creation date and later inquiry outcome are unknown.

Core concern Medium reported severity Involving minors

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 2 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 30/09/2026

Event date unknownUnited StatesUnidentified image and video tool

Maine school district reports teacher targeted by fabricated AI videos and photos

A Maine school superintendent told families that a teacher had been targeted by a malicious digital attack using AI-created videos and photos. The letter, reproduced by WABI, said the content falsely portrayed the teacher and had circulated online, with a small number of students possibly accessing or sharing it. The district said the hosting account had been reported and the video taken down, and offered support to the teacher. The first creation date and specific content are unknown.

Core concern Low reported severity

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 1 source · Added 30/09/2026

17 Jan 2026GermanyUnidentified video tool

Lower Saxony CDU parliamentary group employee reportedly posted an AI-generated sexualized video of a colleague in a private staff chat group

Welt, dpa (in Tagesspiegel, news.de and t-online) and a press release of the CDU parliamentary group in the Lower Saxony state parliament report the following. On 17 January 2026 an employee of the parliamentary group posted a short AI-generated video showing a colleague in a sexualized manner in a private WhatsApp group connected to the group's staff. The Hannover public prosecutor's office had viewed the video, and a spokesperson said it was obviously an AI montage. After the group's leaders were informed (on 27 March according to press reports), the employee who created the video was dismissed without notice and a second employee, who had reportedly asked chat members in January to delete the video and keep silent, was suspended. The group informed the prosecutor's office, which said, as reported on 1 April 2026, that it had received no criminal complaint. On 9 July 2026 dpa reported, citing the prosecutor's office, that the Wennigsen local court had fined the former employee, who had made the video with the colleague's picture without consent and shared it in a chat group, 30 daily rates for a violation of the Kunsturhebergesetz, and that the decision is final. NDR reported on 10 April 2026 that the depicted employee had filed a criminal complaint, that the prosecutor's office had received the employee's application for prosecution, and that the employee did not want to comment publicly. The colleague and the former employee are not named.

Core concern Medium reported severity

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 6 sources, 4 underlying accounts · Added 30/09/2026

May 2026United StatesUnidentified voice-cloning tool (suspected)

Bay Area, California: a mother reports wiring $5,400 to Mexico during a fake kidnapping call that used a voice the mother believed was the adult daughter's, which ABC7 reports scammers mimicked with AI

ABC7 (KGO-TV, 24 May 2026) and ABC News (a Good Morning America segment, 26 May 2026) reported that a Bay Area woman received a call from an unknown number in May 2026. The caller said the woman's adult daughter had been kidnapped by a Mexican drug cartel and played a voice the woman believed was the daughter's, in panic. The woman followed the caller's instructions for about five hours, feared for the daughter's life and wired $5,400 to Mexico. The woman then phoned the daughter, who said the daughter was at work, and realized the call was a scam. ABC7 states that scammers used artificial intelligence to mimic the daughter's voice, and ABC News describes AI as what the woman suspects was used. Neither outlet reports an analysis of the audio or a police finding about a cloned voice. An Operation Shamrock representative quoted by both outlets spoke of voice cloning in general terms and not about this call. ABC7 reports that Martinez police said they are investigating, and the woman said the money is not expected to be recovered. Both outlets rest on the woman's own account. The woman is described by role and the daughter is not named.

Core concern Medium reported severity

AI involvement suspected · Causal attribution alleged · 2 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 30/09/2026

Cases may have several effects and sources. Mixed accounts qualify when they include a reported harm or adverse experience. People are counted within individual cases where sources support a number; we do not publish a collection-wide total of distinct people.

A source’s existence, the experience it reports and AI’s causal role are separate questions. A lawsuit records allegations unless a subsequent finding establishes them.

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Last dataset update: 04/11/2026. Dataset available under CC BY 4.0.