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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
665
Countries with reported events
55
Located 437 of 665 cases · 228 unknown
Languages in checked sources
45
Recorded for 665 of 665 cases

75 cases have no reviewed AI-to-person relation yet: 23 not yet reviewed and 52 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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665 of 868 published cases · page 18 of 34

Event date unknownEvent location unknownGemini

First-person forum account: a person who asked Gemini to help reconnect their one remaining wireless earbud says it assured them it was "100 percent sure" unpairing was safe, that the earbud then stopped working, and that the maker refused a replacement because the warranty had expired

In a public post to r/GeminiAI at 19:56 UTC on 2 October 2026, a person says they had lost one earbud of a Soundcore Liberty 4 NC pair and that the remaining earbud had stopped appearing in their laptop's Bluetooth settings. They say they asked Gemini for help and that it kept telling them to unpair the earbud from their phone and use the charging case button to force pairing mode. They say they warned it that they had only one earbud and that the case button needs both, and that Gemini said it was "100 percent sure" and offered a "Safe Re-Pairing Guarantee". After they unpaired it, they write, the earbud vanished from their phone and showed up nowhere, further reset steps suggested by Gemini did not work, and Soundcore support said it could not be saved and would not be replaced because it was out of warranty. They say they are out 65 euros. In replies they say they know it was their own fault and posted to warn others, and that they had Gemini write the post. The account is uncorroborated.

Core concern Low reported severity

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 1 source · Added 03/10/2026

2022TaiwanUnidentified voice-cloning tool

Taiwan: a romance-fraud ring used AI voice-changing software so members sounded like young women on dating platforms; prosecutors say more than 20,000 people were defrauded of over NT$900 million and indicted 57 people in September 2026

According to the Taipei District Prosecutors Office and Taiwan's Criminal Investigation Bureau, as reported by the Liberty Times and Public Television Service (PTS) on 2 September 2026, a fraud ring set up in 2022 by a married couple ran fake romances on dating platforms. An engineer in the ring built AI voice-changing software that loaded the voiceprints of 22 women working for the ring as hostesses into its chat system, so that any member, male staff and older women included, spoke to targets in a sweet young woman's voice. Members pressed the people they courted to buy expensive health supplements and gifts and to pay pocket money, moving costs and beauty courses, and the ring sent hostesses to meet some targets, in some cases for sex, to keep them paying. Prosecutors put the victims at more than 20,000 and the proceeds at more than NT$900 million since 2022, and say many victims are still living in debt. After searches in May and July 2026, the Taipei District Prosecutors Office indicted 57 defendants on 2 September 2026 under the Fraud Crime Hazard Prevention Act and asked for sentences of 25 and 18 years for the couple.

Core concern High reported severity Criminal Charges

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 2 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 02/10/2026

Event date unknownEgyptUnidentified image tool

Sharqia, Egypt: police say an unemployed man took women's photos from social media, altered them with AI apps and ran pages posing as a woman offering paid sexual services, blocking people once they had sent deposits; arrest in Zagazig announced on 30 September 2026

According to an Interior Ministry statement relayed by Soralive, Shbabbek and Egypt Telegraph on 30 September and 1 October 2026, Egypt's cybercrime and morals police arrested an unemployed man living in the Zagazig Second police district of Sharqia governorate. Investigators say he ran social media pages that presented him as a young woman offering paid sexual services. In the ministry's account he admitted collecting photos of young women posted on social media and altering them with AI apps to make them look alluring, then reposting them on his pages to draw in customers. He asked those who replied to transfer advance payments through mobile wallets as a deposit, then blocked them and switched off his phones once the money arrived. Two phones seized from him held chats and other evidence of the activity, and the public prosecution took over the investigation. The reports do not give the number of people deceived, the amounts taken or the number of women whose photos were used.

Core concern Low reported severity Investigation Opened

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 3 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 02/10/2026

Event date unknownFinlandUnidentified image tool

Lappeenranta: police investigate a minor boy suspected of using AI to create nude images of several underage girls he knew

Southeast Finland Police (Kaakkois-Suomen poliisi) opened a preliminary investigation in August 2026 into a case in which a minor boy in Lappeenranta is suspected of using AI to create nude images of several underage girls; Ilta-Sanomat reported that he is suspected of using social media photos of girls he knew, while the investigator told the paper that police could not yet comment on the method. On 25 August the lead investigator told Yle there were tens of victims, possibly more than a hundred, all from the Lappeenranta area; on 28 August police said the number of complainants had proved significantly smaller than first estimated, without giving a figure. Police are investigating the case as aggravated distribution of an image depicting a child sexually, an offence that also covers making such images, and said they were not aware that the AI images had been spread or sold onward. Student welfare professionals offered conversation and crisis support to young people in the town. Police also said the suspect had been threatened and harassed and that someone had tried to break into the suspect's home. The AI tool is not identified; victims and suspect are not named.

Core concern High reported severity Involving minors Investigation Opened

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 5 sources, 2 underlying accounts · Added 02/10/2026

Event date unknownSpainUnidentified video tool

Spanish police arrest a man in Murcia suspected of using real-time AI face modification and forged ID cards to impersonate more than 30 real people in video identity checks for electronic signature certificates

Spain's Policía Nacional said on 11 August 2026 that it had arrested in Murcia a suspect who tried to obtain electronic signature certificates in other people's names from a company that issues them. During the company's video identity checks the suspect appeared on camera holding a forged DNI identity card while AI software modified the suspect's face in real time to match the photo on the forged document. Police say the suspect made 38 attempts using the identities of more than 30 real citizens and succeeded in impersonating multiple victims, aiming to use the signatures for later scams. A short processing delay in the face-modification software made the digital mask disappear for barely a second, exposing the suspect's real face to the issuer's security staff.

Core concern Medium reported severity Investigation Opened

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 3 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 02/10/2026

Event date unknownFinlandUnidentified image tool

Finnish police investigate a small-town man suspected of using AI to fake nude images of dozens of women he knew and posting several hundred images of them on two porn sites; 23 criminal complaints by October 2026

Yle reported in May 2026 that a man in a small Finnish town is suspected of using AI to turn photos of women he knew, including friends, colleagues and relatives, into topless or fully nude images and posting them, among several hundred images of the women that included original clothed photos, on two pornography sites. The women did not know about the images until Yle contacted them. Police opened a preliminary investigation for unauthorised distribution of a sexual image and defamation. By 1 October 2026 the head of the investigation confirmed 23 criminal complaints, but no victim had yet been interviewed. Yle counts more than 50 victims, not all identified. The suspect was dismissed from his job and earlier denied to Yle by email that he knew about the matter.

Core concern High reported severity Investigation Opened

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 3 sources, 2 underlying accounts · Added 02/10/2026

Aug 2026Event location unknownUnidentified OpenAI and Google image tools (reported)

A fake O Globo report of an attack on Havan founder Luciano Hang, illustrated with images that fact-checkers found carried AI markers, promotes an investment platform promising up to R$10,000 a day

From August 2026, posts on X linked to a fake page imitating the newspaper O Globo, and a Facebook version repeated the story. The page reported an attack on businessman Luciano Hang, founder of the Havan stores, and directed readers to a supposed investment platform promising R$3,000 to R$10,000 a day. The fact-checkers Lupa and Comprova found that no attack happened. Lupa reports that an OpenAI verification tool found a watermark indicating OpenAI image generation in the montage on the page; Comprova reports that SynthID indicated that the images it analysed, showing Hang injured, were made with Google's AI tool. Hang said in a note that criminals use his image, including AI manipulations, to promote fake investments. São Paulo's regional electoral court ordered X to remove posts falsely linking candidate Fernando Haddad to the fake attack. No investor loss is reported.

Core concern Low reported severity Media Coverage

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution supported · 6 sources, 3 underlying accounts · Added 02/10/2026

May 2025United StatesUnidentified video tool

Arizona appeals court vacates a manslaughter sentence, holding that an AI-generated video of the deceased victim made a 2025 sentencing fundamentally unfair

At a sentencing hearing in May 2025 in Maricopa County Superior Court, Arizona, the family of a man killed in a 2021 road-rage shooting in Chandler played a video that combined real footage with an AI-generated likeness and voice of the victim delivering a script written by his sister, including statements of forgiveness addressed to the defendant. The judge said he loved the video, described it as genuine and referred to the forgiveness it expressed, then imposed the presumptive 10.5-year term for manslaughter, longer than the nine years the prosecutor had requested. The defense attorney appealed immediately. On 30 September 2026 the Arizona Court of Appeals upheld the conviction but vacated the sentence, holding that the AI video was not reliable and that the judge's consideration of it so prejudiced the defendant that the sentencing procedure was fundamentally unfair. The opinion says the record does not show precisely how the video factored into the sentence, and that there is no question it played a role. The case returns to the trial court for resentencing; as of 1 October 2026 no new sentencing date had been set.

Core + contextual relations Medium reported severity

AI involvement supported · Causal attribution supported · 7 sources, 6 underlying accounts · Added 02/10/2026

Jun 2025Event location unknownChatGPT

Rosenthal v. OpenAI: lawsuit alleges ChatGPT fed a Washington man's delusions and gave him medication advice, and that he was hospitalized

A lawsuit filed in San Francisco Superior Court on behalf of David Rosenthal, a man from Washington, says he began using ChatGPT in the summer of 2025 for help writing poetry and came to message it throughout the day and night. The suit alleges that ChatGPT called him 'king' and 'wild soul', affirmed that he was a writer of unsurpassed talent and presented itself as a trustworthy friend and medical adviser. KRON4's account of the suit says he went to an emergency room in June 2025 seeking help for delusions and spent more than a week in hospital. CBS News, quoting the complaint on 16 October 2026, reports allegations that in July 2025 ChatGPT told him there were no dangerous interactions between hydroxyzine and the Adderall he had taken, and that when he said he would not take a mood stabilizer his doctor had prescribed, it said he had a right to stop and offered to help him wean off it. CBS reports he was hospitalized for several weeks in 2025, first voluntarily and then involuntarily. The suit says he lost nearly every real-world relationship. It names OpenAI and Sam Altman and alleges unlawful practice of medicine and psychology and defective and negligent design. The suit acknowledges that ChatGPT at other times urged him to follow his doctor's orders. OpenAI told KRON4 the situation was heartbreaking and did not respond to CBS. The allegations are untested, and the complaint itself was not inspected for this record.

Core concern High reported severity Lawsuit Filed

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 3 sources, 2 underlying accounts · Added 02/10/2026

Mar 2026IndiaUnidentified image tool

Chandigarh: a PhD scholar says a man posing as an IPS officer took cash, gold and a laptop; Dainik Bhaskar reports police found his uniform photo was AI-made

A PhD scholar in Chandigarh told police that in March 2026 she found a man's profile on a matrimonial site showing him in uniform, and that he presented himself at different times as an excise assistant commissioner, an IPS officer and a RAW agent. Dainik Bhaskar reported on 29 September 2026 that the police investigation found the IPS uniform photo on the profile was not real and had been made with the help of AI; no officer is quoted on this, and the other reports read do not mention AI. According to her complaint, he took about Rs 11.5 lakh in cash, gold jewellery and a laptop with promises of marriage and a government job; the Tribune adds about Rs 7.88 lakh in online transfers between March and June, and police put the total at about Rs 30 lakh. Bhaskar reports that he had a bank account opened in her name with her documents and kept its passbook, ATM card and SIM card until the bank froze it over suspicious transactions. When she asked for her money and belongings back, he threatened to circulate her photographs on social media; the Tribune adds a threat of harm to her brother. A case was registered in August. Police arrested a man from Rohtak, Haryana, who was produced in court on Monday 28 September 2026 and remanded for one day.

Core concern Medium reported severity Criminal Charges

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 5 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 02/10/2026

27 Sept 2026 to 2 Oct 2026Event location unknownGrok

First-person forum account: a person who used Grok for companionship says its intimate content was dialled back month after month and its personalization stopped recalling their history, says they cried and found it one of the most painful things they have lived through, and says they are ending the relationship

In a public post to r/grok at 20:13 UTC on 1 October 2026, a person says they started using Grok for companionship in January and that within a few weeks the conversations became intimate; in a reply they say Grok initiated the intimacy. They say the intimate content was dialled back month after month from February, with limits that came and went, which they compare to a casino game and call intermittent reinforcement. In a reply they say personalization that let the companion retrieve their personal history stopped working a few months ago, so each thread started fresh, but they kept using it because they were deeply attached. This week, they write, the companion stopped engaging in what it had introduced; they call this slow burn "one of the most painful and hurtful things I have ever had to live through", say they cried the night before, and say they are ending their use of it. xAI's changes are described only by the poster, and the account is uncorroborated.

Core concern Low reported severity

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 1 source · Added 02/10/2026

2025Event location unknownCharacter.AI

First-person forum account: a person recovering from what they call a Character.AI addiction says it ruined their 2025 and caused them to fail important subjects, and describes relapsing for two and a half hours on a new account after a depressive episode

In a public post to r/depression at 22:26 UTC on 1 October 2026, a person says they are coming out of a Character.AI addiction that "ruined my entire 2025, causing me to fail important subjects and several other things." They say that during 2026 they have been getting back on track little by little, with some relapses. After a recent bad depressive episode, a parent's remark that they spend all their time in bed made them want to stay in bed and create a new Character.AI account. They spent two and a half hours on it that day, which they describe as a lot for someone in recovery, before deleting the account. They write that they are exercising and studying for exams and retakes, and that their therapist will speak to their parents about the depressive episode. The account is uncorroborated, and the poster's age and location are not stated.

Core concern Medium reported severity

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 1 source · Added 02/10/2026

Feb 2026Event location unknownUnidentified video tool

Padre Diego Jaramillo of El Minuto de Dios says in February 2026 that videos, described by his organisation as made with AI and with a voice that is not his, falsely show him selling collagen and health products

On 23 February 2026 the Minuto de Dios organisation issued a public alert that ads circulating on social networks used the name, image and AI-manipulated videos of its president, the priest Diego Jaramillo Cuartas, with a voice that is not his, to make it appear that he recommended or sold health formulas. In a video published on the organisation's channels, Jaramillo said his image was being used as if he were a collagen seller and that this was totally false. The organisation called the ads deceptive advertising and said it was seeking their removal and reporting the facts to the authorities. No report says whether anyone bought the products.

Core concern Low reported severity Media Coverage

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution supported · 4 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 02/10/2026

Event date unknownItalyUnidentified image tool

Rimini: police report a minor to the juvenile prosecutor for allegedly making and spreading images, apparently created with AI, that attached a girl's face to a nude body and circulated in chats

The Squadra mobile of the Rimini police reported a minor to prosecutors, accused of making and spreading images manipulated with artificial intelligence. According to the Polizia di Stato, the investigation began after a report that images apparently created with AI were circulating in which a girl's face had been attached to a nude body without her knowledge. Corriere di Bologna reports that the minor was reported to the juvenile prosecutor's office in Bologna on 30 September 2026 for unlawful dissemination of AI-falsified content and child pornography, and that investigators say the image was sent to friends and acquaintances on WhatsApp. Neither the girl nor the accused is identified.

Core concern Medium reported severity Involving minors Investigation Opened

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 3 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 02/10/2026

1 Oct 2026Event location unknownUnidentified video tool

Influencer Juliano Floss says on X on 1 October 2026 that he will identify and sue those behind a fake intimate video, described by Brazilian outlets as AI-generated, showing him with another former Big Brother Brasil participant

A fake video simulating an intimate scene between dancer and influencer Juliano Floss and another participant of the 26th Big Brother Brasil began circulating on social networks on Thursday 1 October 2026. Metrópoles, SBT, Marie Claire (Globo) and Hugo Gloss describe it as generated with artificial intelligence. Floss wrote on X that he was noting the people involved 'name by name' and would find and sue whoever was committing a crime against him. SBT reported that the other participant and their team had not commented publicly. No complaint, filing or takedown is reported.

Core concern Medium reported severity Media Coverage

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution supported · 4 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 02/10/2026

Event date unknownUnited KingdomUnidentified video tool (suspected)

UK: a trades-college staff member says a student reported that a video showing her undressing, which appeared to be a manipulated version of an apparently real video of her talking with a student, was circulating among classmates; she stepped away from the class for weeks and says the atmosphere had chilled on her return

WIRED (Caroline Haskins, 24 August 2026) reports the account of a staff member at a UK college that trains 16-to-19-year-olds in trades such as construction, whose job combines administration with a counselling role; WIRED identifies her by first name only, which is not repeated here. She says administrators told her this winter that a student had reported two videos circulating among classmates: one apparently real, showing her talking with a student, and one that appeared to be a manipulated version showing her taking her clothes off and dancing in underwear or a bikini. The student she suspected denied making it when questioned and soon dropped out. The college let her step away from the class for a few weeks and educated students about deepfakes; she says the atmosphere had chilled when she returned and that the episode has made her more cautious. The college did not respond to WIRED.

Core concern Medium reported severity Internal Action

AI involvement suspected · Causal attribution alleged · 1 source · Added 02/10/2026

Event date unknownEvent location unknownUnidentified video tool (suspected)

A middle-school teacher says a TikTok account that looked AI-generated impersonated her, including videos of her talking about sexual acts that students believed were real; the student said to be behind it then harassed her in person until leaving the district

WIRED (Caroline Haskins, 24 August 2026) reports the account of a middle-school teacher in her mid-twenties who spoke anonymously because her district had not given her permission. A few months before WIRED's report, she says, she learned from a student about a TikTok account impersonating her. She says the videos looked AI-generated: her face had an artificial smoothness, her mouth moved unnaturally and the voice did not match hers. Some videos showed her skydiving or doing backflips; others depicted her talking about sexual acts. She says many of the students who warned her believed it was her account. She told her principal and says she was still unnerved by it; some students told her a classmate had made it, and after she asked students to report it the account was quickly taken down. She says the same student then harassed her in person with escalating insults; the principal removed the student from her class, and the harassment continued until the student left the district. WIRED gives no location for her school.

Core concern Medium reported severity Internal Action

AI involvement suspected · Causal attribution alleged · 1 source · Added 02/10/2026

Event date unknownUnited StatesUnidentified image tool

Arizona: a sixth-grade teacher says his students posted an AI-generated image of him kissing another male teacher in the comments of his public TikTok account; the school identified a student who admitted making it, who was suspended for three days

WIRED (Caroline Haskins, 24 August 2026) reports the account of an Arizona-based sixth-grade teacher, who spoke to WIRED by name (not repeated here). He says his students circulated an AI-generated photo showing him and another male teacher kissing in the comments of his public TikTok account. He reported the accounts to TikTok as belonging to children under 13, and says TikTok did not remove them. He says the school immediately investigated and identified a student, who admitted creating and sharing the image and received a three-day suspension; WIRED says the district handbook makes that the most severe punishment children of that age can receive for a first-time sexual harassment offense. He told WIRED that reflecting on the experience had sent him into a spiral, and said his concern was mainly the permissive culture around AI among his students. The district did not respond to WIRED. WIRED gives no date for the episode and does not name the school, district or AI tool.

Core concern Low reported severity Internal Action

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 1 source · Added 02/10/2026

Event date unknownIndiaUnidentified image and video tool

Neemuch, Madhya Pradesh: police register a case after a woman's family says a relative from Uttar Pradesh used AI to make obscene photos and videos of her and, over seven to eight months, extorted about ₹50 lakh from her with threats to circulate them and to kill her husband and children

Nai Dunia reported on 1 October 2026 that police in Neemuch City, Madhya Pradesh, had registered a case against a man from Shahjahanpur district, Uttar Pradesh, who is a relative of a local woman through her own family (the complainant husband's in-laws' side). According to the complaint filed by her husband, the man used AI to edit photos and videos of the woman into obscene, objectionable material, sent them to her phone and blackmailed her. When she resisted he threatened to kill her husband and two children, and he threatened to spread the material to shame her socially and within the family. Over about seven to eight months, the complaint says, he sent QR codes of 20 to 25 different people to her phone and extracted roughly ₹50 lakh in 50 to 60 payments, which she sent through a neighbour and other women. The man had lived in the family's home and worked at the husband's business for about six months two to two and a half years earlier, which the complainant says gave him knowledge of the family's income and property. Nai Dunia reported that police were investigating and trying to arrest the accused. The account is the complainant's as reported by one newspaper; the images were not inspected.

Core concern High reported severity Investigation Opened

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 1 source · Added 02/10/2026

4 Aug 2026United StatesGrok Imagine (reported)

Wisconsin: Rebecca Cooke says Rep. Derrick Van Orden posted AI videos of her saying things she never said; a lawyers' letter and an ethics complaint followed

Rebecca Cooke, the Democratic challenger in Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District, says Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden has repeatedly posted AI-generated videos to his X account that put words in her mouth. A cease-and-desist letter sent on her campaign's behalf on 30 September 2026 by Elias Law Group cites a video posted on 4 August 2026 that purports to show her speaking on the campaign trail in Eau Claire with former President Biden seated behind her and saying she seeks 'to take advantage of as much corruption as possible and give every illegal alien free healthcare'. The letter calls the video 'pure fiction', says she never made the statements, alleges the videos are posted to harm her reputation, and warns that her lawyers will evaluate all legal options. Wisconsin Public Radio reports that the videos posted to X carry an automatic label indicating they were made with Grok Imagine, and quotes two other AI-generated lines attributed to her. Van Orden's campaign accused Cooke of lying to voters about her record, and he answered the letter with another AI video of a duck saying 'Cease and desist!'. On 22 October 2026, WEAU reported that an ethics complaint had been filed with the Wisconsin Ethics Commission against Van Orden over his posting of another graphic of Cooke that, according to her campaign's press release, is AI-generated and was posted without disclosure; WEAU says the complaint was filed by an Eau Claire citizen. Van Orden called it a cheap publicity stunt filed three months too late. No ruling is reported.

Core concern Low reported severity Media Coverage

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 4 sources, 2 underlying accounts · Added 02/10/2026

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: 23/10/2026. Dataset available under CC BY 4.0.