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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
345
Countries with reported events
47
Located 242 of 345 cases · 103 unknown
Languages in checked sources
40
Recorded for 345 of 345 cases

7 cases have no reviewed AI-to-person relation yet: 1 not yet reviewed and 6 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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345 of 1101 published cases · page 12 of 18

Nov 2025Event location unknownUnidentified image and video tool

London: the broadcaster Narinder Kaur says that since sexually explicit images made from her Instagram photographs with a nudification app appeared on X in November 2025 she has been tagged in at least 20 more deepfaked pictures and videos, and that she fell into a depression; no perpetrator has been identified (Daily Mail, 30 September 2026)

Narinder Kaur, a 54-year-old broadcaster and regular TV commentator, told the Daily Mail (30 September 2026) that one morning in November 2025 she opened X and found sexually explicit images of herself, made by taking photographs she had shared on Instagram and removing her clothing with a so-called nudification app. Since then she has been tagged in at least 20 more deepfaked pictures and videos, some linking her to Jeffrey Epstein. She says she fell into a depression in the early weeks and her GP suggested antidepressants, that commenters treated the images as real, and that she fears her teenage children will see them. She has reported each image and had numerous police visits, but no perpetrator has been identified because the accounts are anonymous and deleted when reported. She has joined the Stop AI Abuse campaign.

Core concern Medium reported severity Media Coverage

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 1 source · Added 01/10/2026

Event date unknownEvent location unknownUnidentified video tool

Montreal: Dr. François Marquis, chief of intensive care at Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital, says AI deepfake ads using his face have sold supplements and cancer cures on Facebook since at least August 2025, and that a scam victim who paid hundreds of dollars for pills that never arrived came to the ICU demanding a refund

Dr. François Marquis, chief of intensive care at Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital in Montreal, told CBC News (August 2025) and CTV News and CBC News (September 2026) that AI-generated deepfake videos using his likeness keep appearing on Facebook, selling joint supplements, pills and cancer cures and spreading anti-pharmaceutical claims; the latest offers $1 million to dissatisfied customers. He is not on social media and learns of the videos from people who call him. He recounts that a person who paid hundreds of dollars for pills advertised in one of the videos, and never received them, came into the ICU demanding his money back, which he describes as a security problem for the hospital. He has reported the deepfakes to Quebec's College of Physicians, Montreal police and the platforms, but says new videos keep appearing. The makers of the ads are not identified.

Core concern Low reported severity Media Coverage

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

20 Jul 2026BangladeshUnidentified voice-cloning tool

Natore, Bangladesh: callers told a health-complex employee that his son had been arrested with drugs, then used an AI-cloned copy of the son's voice to win his trust and took Tk 40,000; two men were arrested in Gaibandha in September 2026

According to a press release from Special Response Battalion-13 (SRB-13), relayed by Ajker Patrika, DBC News and NTV, on 20 July 2026 a man who works at the Natore Sadar upazila health complex received a call saying that his younger son had been arrested by police with drugs. The callers then used AI to imitate the son's voice so that the father believed the story, and demanded money to get the son released. He sent a total of Tk 40,000 in two payments through the mobile financial service Nagad, and realised it was a fraud when he reached his son directly. He filed a fraud case at Natore Sadar police station on 25 September 2026. That evening SRB-13 arrested two men, described as the ring's leader and an associate, at their homes in Gobindaganj, Gaibandha, seizing nine mobile phones, a passport and Tk 14,100 in cash; SRB says they admitted involvement during initial questioning and handed them to the police for further legal action, and NTV reports they were sent to Gaibandha district jail through the court on 26 September.

Core concern Low reported severity Criminal Charges

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

Event date unknownAustraliaUnidentified voice-cloning tool

Victoria, Australia: police warned, in reports published on 1 October 2026 local time, that scammers using AI to clone the voices of doctors have called Mandarin speakers and made them buy gift cards, with ten reports in September and two victims losing $50,000 and $40,000

Victoria Police warned, in reports published on 1 October 2026 local time, that fraudsters targeting the state's Mandarin-speaking community are using artificial intelligence to clone the voices of doctors, general practitioners and surgeons, calling victims by their real names and telling them to buy gift cards and text the codes (ABC News, Yahoo News Australia). Police received ten reports in September. In one case, NewsWire reports, the scammer copied the voice of a medical professional the victim knew, and the victim bought $50,000 in gift cards over three days before calling the real practice. In another, a caller posing as a medical professional exploited the victim's urgent health conditions and pressured them until their cash was depleted, a loss of $40,000; police do not say whether that call used a cloned voice. No victim is identified.

Core concern Medium reported severity Media Coverage

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

Sept 2026Event location unknownUnidentified voice-cloning tool

Singer Samuel Sarmiento, formerly of Banda Los Recoditos, warns followers that fake videos using his voice cloned with AI are asking for money for his mother's funeral, hours after he announced her death in September 2026

Samuel Sarmiento, a former lead singer of Banda Los Recoditos, announced his mother's death on social media in late September 2026. Hours later he posted a video on his official Instagram account warning that people were circulating fake videos using his voice, cloned with AI, in which he appeared to ask for money to cover her funeral costs. 'No se vale que haya gente tan ruin que ande pidiendo dinero con mi voz, con IA, para el sepelio de mi madre', he said, adding that he was not asking anyone for money. La Razón, Récord, La Mejor and El Diario de Sonora relayed his video on 30 September 2026. No report says whether anyone paid, and no police complaint is reported.

Core concern Low reported severity Media Coverage

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution supported · 4 sources, 1 underlying account · 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

Mar 2026CanadaUnidentified image tool

Edmonton: two 14-year-old junior high students charged with making and possessing child sexual exploitation materials and voyeurism after police allege they used AI software to sexualise photos of female classmates taken at school without consent and from social media

The Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT) Internet Child Exploitation unit announced on 17 June 2026 that two 14-year-old boys at an Edmonton junior high school had been charged on 1 June with making and possessing child sexual exploitation materials and voyeurism. Police allege the boys took photos of girls at their school without consent and from the girls' social media accounts and used AI software to sexualise them; several students were identified as victims and police said the number could be more than ten pending forensic review. A teacher reported the matter to police in late March 2026 after students complained. Police said the evidence so far indicates the images were shared between the two boys rather than more widely, but that word of their existence spread through the school. The lead investigator said the girls were left with intense shame and embarrassment and that some are now too scared to post on social media. The software has not been identified; the school and the accused are not named to protect the victims. CBC, Global News, CTV News and The Canadian Press covered the release and news conference.

Core concern High reported severity Involving minors Criminal Charges

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 5 sources, 1 underlying account · 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

2025Event location unknownUnidentified chatbot

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

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.

Core concern Low reported severity

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

2 Jan 2026Event location unknownGrok

UK: Grok made sexualised images of a Welsh presenter and a broadcaster at users' requests; police closed both cases, then reopened the presenter's, TBIJ reports

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) and The Observer reported on 29 September 2026 that police investigations into sexualised images generated by X's chatbot Grok had failed to identify anyone. A Welsh presenter and campaigner against deepfake abuse, who had criticised Grok publicly on New Year's Eve 2025, saw an anonymous X user ask '@grok' to put her in a bikini made of cling film; Grok generated the image from her profile photo and posted it. She reported it to South Wales Police on 2 January 2026, was not asked for a statement until March, and was told officers had not heard back from X; the case was closed in May with the force saying no suspect could be identified. The same account also targeted a commentator and broadcaster, who estimates about 300 Grok images and videos of her were posted during the wave, including one alongside Jeffrey Epstein reported to the Metropolitan Police, which likewise said no suspect could be identified. The presenter entered pre-action legal correspondence with xAI (part of SpaceXAI) alleging misuse of private information and breaches of data-protection law and the Equality Act. On 22 October 2026 TBIJ reported that South Wales Police had reopened her case after she filed a formal complaint in September and TBIJ gave officers new information about the requesting user, including a crypto wallet and dozens of deleted posts; the force said it was now investigating the offence under the sexual-offences legislation aimed at deepfakes, rather than malicious-communications law, including enquiries with X. TBIJ added that other users had edited images of her with the standalone Grok app and that she is starting civil legal action against the company. BBC Wales had reported in January 2026 that explicit images of the presenter were created with the chatbot and shared without her consent.

Core concern Medium reported severity Investigation Opened

AI involvement supported · Causal attribution supported · 4 sources, 2 underlying accounts · 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

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

Event date unknownCanadaUnidentified image and video tool

Alberta police allege man used AI to sexualise photos and videos of children known to him; charge untested

Alberta's police child-exploitation unit (ALERT ICE) charged a man in September 2026 with making child sexual abuse material. It alleges he used AI applications to sexualise photos and videos of numerous children known to him, taken from open social media accounts. Investigators were still identifying the children, he was released under court-imposed conditions, and the allegations remain untested in court.

Core concern High reported severity Involving minors Criminal Charges

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 4 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 30/09/2026

Event date unknownUnited StatesUnidentified image tool

Missouri man charged over child sexual abuse material; police filing says he told officers he used an AI generator to undress children's photographs

A Missouri man is charged with sexual exploitation of a minor and possession of child sexual abuse material after a cybertip from a company operating a generative AI chatbot. According to the police probable cause statement as reported by a local newspaper, he told officers he uploaded photographs of children to an AI generator to undress them. He pleaded not guilty; the tool and the number of children are not reported.

Core concern High reported severity Involving minors Criminal Charges

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 3 sources, 2 underlying accounts · Added 30/09/2026

Event date unknownHong Kong SAR ChinaUnidentified image and video tool

Hong Kong police report deepfake romance-investment fraud targeting people across Asia

Hong Kong police described a syndicate that used deepfake romantic personas to induce investments by people in Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia. SCMP reported alleged criminal proceeds exceeding HK$34 million and a January 2025 operation arresting thirty-one suspects. An official police budget reply separately identifies that January operation and the amount involved. The Standard reported on 10 February 2026 that police had charged nine more suspects, bringing the number prosecuted to 14, all for conspiracy to defraud and four also for dealing with property known or believed to represent proceeds of an indictable offence. No verdict or sentence is reported in the sources read. The first scam date, number of affected people and individual loss allocations are unknown. A different October 2024 operation involving twenty-seven arrests is kept separate.

Core concern Medium reported severity Criminal Charges

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 4 sources, 1 underlying account · 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

Jul 2025CanadaUnidentified video tool

Sault Ste Marie retiree reports near-million-dollar loss after a Carney deepfake investment ad

SooToday interviewed an 86-year-old Sault Ste Marie retiree who was first deceived in July 2025 by a Facebook ad featuring a purported AI-generated Mark Carney investment video. The report describes nearly C$1 million lost over several months through retirement withdrawals, a mortgage and credit-card borrowing. She said she was devastated; her friend described missed bills and loss of her car. The report also says withdrawing retirement funds affected her benefit eligibility. Those later consequences are reported, without an independently inspected financial file.

Core concern High reported severity

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

Event date unknownUnited StatesUnidentified video tool

Utah buyer reports spending over $400 after a purported Oprah deepfake supplement ad

A Utah buyer told KSL that an apparent Oprah supplement advertisement persuaded her to spend over $400. She said the product did not match what had been represented and wanted a refund. A KSL follow-up in March 2026 explicitly described this same purchase as triggered by Oprah's deepfake doppelganger. The woman received supplements, so the payment is not treated as proof that the full sum was unrecoverably lost. Her purchase date is unknown.

Core concern Low reported severity

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 2 sources, 1 underlying account · 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

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: 11/11/2026. Dataset available under CC BY 4.0.