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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 is wider: it also records consequential decisions and claims about people. Each account is reviewed for publication; claims may remain uncorroborated or disputed. How we review and count cases

In this selection

Published cases
15
Countries with reported events
3
Located 12 of 15 cases · 3 unknown
Languages in checked sources
3
Recorded for 15 of 15 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.

No known event years in this selection.

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15 of 560 published cases

Event date unknownUnited StatesFlock Safety license plate readers

Albany County, New York: a senior sheriff's investigator was charged in September 2026, accused of more than 4,000 unauthorized Flock license-plate-reader searches on five people known to the investigator, including about 3,000 tracking a former girlfriend's vehicle

The Albany County Sheriff's Office in New York said a senior investigator conducted more than 4,000 unauthorized searches of the Flock license-plate-reader system involving five people known to the investigator. According to the sheriff's office, the searches include tracking a former girlfriend's vehicle around 3,000 times and running four other plates hundreds of times each. The sheriff said an outside source prompted the investigation. The investigator, a 13-year veteran of the office, was arrested on 9 September 2026 and charged with official misconduct and falsifying business records, both misdemeanors, and was suspended indefinitely. The sheriff said access to Flock data is now limited to supervisors and audited every 30 days. The five people are not identified, and the dates of the searches are not reported. The charges are allegations.

Contextual tracker case Medium reported severity Criminal Charges

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 1 source · Added 05/10/2026

Event date unknownUnited StatesUnidentified license plate reader

Bonner Springs, Kansas: a former police detective was charged in March 2026 with stalking and other offences, and a court affidavit says the detective used license plate readers and other police resources to track the detective's wife and two men

KSHB 41 reported on 6 April 2026 that a court affidavit accuses a former Bonner Springs Police Department detective of using license plate readers, such as Flock cameras, to track the detective's wife and two men the detective believed were involved with her. The affidavit says the detective also used the department's access to a police data service to track the three people more than 20 times in late December, and made three more searches after being served with a protection order the wife had obtained. The wife told Kansas Bureau of Investigation agents she had separated from the detective in November 2025. Bonner Springs police terminated the detective on 26 January after an internal investigation. In March the Wyandotte County District Attorney filed 18 charges, including stalking and breach of privacy, and the detective was arrested on 18 March. The charges are allegations.

Contextual tracker case Medium reported severity Criminal Charges

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 1 source · Added 05/10/2026

Event date unknownUnited StatesFlock Safety license plate readers

Brevard County, Florida: a sheriff's deputy searched a former girlfriend's license plate in the agency's Flock license plate reader system while off duty, an internal investigation found; the deputy resigned after the investigation

WKMG News 6 reported, from Brevard County Sheriff's Office investigation records, that a deputy searched a former girlfriend's license plate once in the agency's Flock license plate reader system before the start of a shift. The search was logged as being for investigation purposes. The woman had emailed the sheriff's office with allegations about the deputy and told investigators that he once discussed watching her on the Flock system. She did not know whether her vehicle's location had been tracked. The deputy denied checking her registration to spy on her or out of revenge and could not give a reason for the query. The administrative investigation also examined other alleged misconduct that did not involve the Flock system. The sheriff stated an intent to terminate the deputy, who resigned on 27 May. News 6 found no indication of a criminal investigation.

Contextual tracker case Low reported severity Internal Action

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 1 source · Added 05/10/2026

Event date unknownUnited StatesFlock Safety license plate readers

Pasadena, Texas: a police sergeant accused by a city council member of using the department's Flock license-plate readers to track a female fellow officer resigned in July 2026 and surrendered the Texas peace officer license in lieu of prosecution; officials would not say whether the surrender related to the Flock allegation

According to Pasadena City Council Member Emmanuel Guerrero, speaking to KPRC 2, ABC13 and FOX 26 from July 2026, a sergeant in the Pasadena, Texas, police department was investigated for using the department's Flock license-plate-reader system to track and stalk a female fellow officer, and the system flagged the heavy use of the account. The city says the investigation began in May 2026. The sergeant resigned on 8 July 2026 while under investigation, and in August the department and the Harris County District Attorney's Office said the former sergeant had surrendered the Texas peace officer license under an agreement in lieu of criminal prosecution. Neither office would confirm that the surrender related to the Flock allegation, and the department has not released its findings. Its statement describes allegations made by two employees against one another. The former sergeant's attorney told ABC13 that the client disputes the allegations.

Contextual tracker case Low reported severity Internal Action

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 6 sources, 3 underlying accounts · Added 03/10/2026

Event date unknownIndiaUnidentified video tool

Meghalaya: a video described as an AI deepfake, showing Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong and East Khasi Hills police chief Vivek Syiem drinking and surrounded by money, circulates amid truck-extortion allegations; police call it fabricated and weigh legal action

Shillong newspapers reported on 1 and 2 October 2026 that a video described as an AI-generated deepfake was circulating on social media, linking Meghalaya's Deputy Chief Minister in charge of Home (Police), Prestone Tynsong, and East Khasi Hills Superintendent of Police Vivek Syiem to allegations that police were illegally collecting money from trucks on a highway. Highland Post reported that the video shows the two laughing, drinking alcohol and surrounded by money, and that it appears to have been created with AI and is crudely made. Syiem called it a serious matter and said police would examine the video and decide on legal action after reviewing it; police describe it as fabricated. Posters targeting the two officials appeared in Shillong the next day. Who made the video is unknown and no complaint or arrest is reported.

Core concern Low reported severity Media Coverage

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 4 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 03/10/2026

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

New Hampshire families report school distress after AI sexual images of three girls

Parents of three Goffstown middle-school girls told Boston 25 that classmates used an AI app to create and share sexual images of their children. They described fear of peers, reluctance to attend school and concern about the district's response. Parents said the school first notified them in early October 2025. The reproduced district statement cited privacy limits and its commitment to student safety, without confirming the specific disciplinary allegations. The first image date is unknown.

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 unknownUnited StatesUnidentified image and video tool

Livingston Parish, Louisiana: sheriff's office says a woman first treated as a victim made the AI-generated nude photos and videos, rape threats and extortion attempts in an online threats case

On 24 July 2026 WBRZ, WAFB and the Livingston Parish News relayed a Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office (Louisiana) statement about an investigation into threats made by phone and online. The sheriff's office said one alleged victim was threatened with rape and other bodily harm unless money was paid, AI-generated photos and videos of one of the victims were sent to numerous family members and friends, and later threats included getting one victim fired. Homeland Security assisted after allegations that overseas suspects were involved through past relationships and acquaintances in Greece. The sheriff's office said subpoenas and search returns from platforms led back to a woman who had first been treated as a victim, and that after an interview with the woman the sheriff's office learned the woman made all of the fictitious accounts, the AI-generated nude photos and videos, the rape threats and the extortion attempts. The accused was booked on charges that include unlawful dissemination of AI nude photos, online impersonation and five counts of extortion, and was released on bond. The Livingston Parish News says the accused and one other person had reported as victims some or all of what the sheriff's office attributes to the accused. The charges are allegations and no conviction is reported. The AI tool is not identified, the victims are not described and the start date of the threats is not stated.

Core concern Medium reported severity

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 3 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 30/09/2026

Event date unknownEvent location unknownUnidentified image tool

Montana prosecutors charge a Carter County man in a case involving AI-altered images of a Montana child

On 21 August 2025 the Montana Attorney General's Office charged a Carter County man with three felony counts of sexual abuse of children for possessing child sexual abuse material. Prosecutors state that in at least one count an AI tool was used to alter images of a Montana child that were taken from the child's parents' public social media account. The investigation began with cyber tips about uploads to a cloud backup. The charges are allegations. The child and the accused are not named here. The only reported harmed person is the depicted child and the sources report no other consequence, so the harm evidence is weak: it rests on the prosecutors' description of the charged conduct. The date of the conduct is not reported.

Core concern Low reported severity Involving minors

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 2 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 29/09/2026

Event date unknownEvent location unknownGrok

Doe 1 v. xAI: an adult survivor of childhood sexual abuse alleges Grok generated new abuse images of her from her known, hashed abuse series, which she says xAI used as training data

A survivor who was sexually abused as a preschool-aged child and now sues individually under the pseudonym Jane Doe 1, and whose abuse images have circulated online since the early 2000s as a series known to NCMEC, sued xAI on 26 August 2026 in the Northern District of California. Her complaint alleges that those known images were part of the dataset xAI used for Grok and that Grok generated new abuse images depicting her; her lawyers say the Canadian Centre for Child Protection used the series' hash fingerprints to identify AI-generated images of her on X. The complaint says each new image caused her a new injury. It seeks damages under Masha's Law for a proposed class of people whose childhood images Grok altered into abuse material. The complaint does not say when the images of her were made or who prompted them. xAI did not respond to requests for comment, and no court has ruled on the allegations.

Core concern High reported severity Lawsuit Ongoing

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 5 sources, 2 underlying accounts · Added 29/09/2026

Event date unknownUnited KingdomUnidentified chatbot

Lewes Crown Court, England: a rape trial was stayed part-way through and the jury discharged after documents on the complainant's phone, which the complainant said came from putting material into AI to prepare for court, were treated as witness coaching; the Court of Appeal reversed the stay on 4 June 2026 and ordered a retrial

During a rape trial at Lewes Crown Court, a download of the complainant's phone revealed two documents containing a summary of the complainant's recollection of the night in question and 24 questions in the form of a cross-examination, with suggested answers. Asked about them, the complainant said: 'I had put stuff into AI to help me prepare myself for the court'. The trial judge (a Recorder) held that this was witness coaching, found that the defendant could not have a fair trial and stayed the proceedings as an abuse of process; the jury was discharged when the prosecution gave notice of appeal. On 4 June 2026 the Court of Appeal (R v FGD [2026] EWCA Crim 918) reversed the stay, holding that the trial process could deal with any prejudice, and directed a retrial at the earliest opportunity because the allegations were 'now of some age'. The defence did not accept that the documents were AI-generated; the appeal proceeded on that basis. The court warned that witnesses should be firmly discouraged from using AI to prepare their evidence and that, for complainants in sexual-offence cases, doing so may expose their online activity to wider and more intrusive investigation.

Core concern Medium reported severity Media Coverage

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution supported · 3 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 29/09/2026

Event date unknownIndiaUnidentified video tool

Bhubaneswar (Odisha): the Biju Janata Dal files a police complaint and holds a sit-in at Capital police station alleging that a social-media account is circulating obscene AI deepfake videos of three of its women leaders (26 September 2026)

On 26 September 2026 the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) staged a dharna at Capital police station in Bhubaneswar and lodged a complaint alleging that an account named 'Bana Bichhuati' was circulating obscene and objectionable AI-generated deepfake videos of three of the party's women leaders on social media to malign them (Kalinga TV; KNews Odisha). The party asked police to register a case, obtain the account's IP address and device details from Meta, identify and arrest those responsible, and have the videos removed. The reports relay the party's allegations; Kalinga TV notes that the identity of whoever runs the account has not been independently established, and no police response is reported.

Core concern Medium reported severity Media Coverage

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 2 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 27/09/2026

Event date unknownIndiaUnidentified video tool

Bansdih, Ballia (Uttar Pradesh): a father reports that a local youth made a fake Instagram account in his 17-year-old daughter's name and an AI-generated obscene video from her photograph, sent it to her classmates, friends and relatives, and threatened to kill the family when they objected; police register a case under the IT Act (22-23 September 2026)

The father of a 17-year-old Class 12 student in Bansdih, Ballia district, Uttar Pradesh, gave the Bansdih police a written complaint that a young man from the town, a former schoolmate who had been expelled from the school and bore a grudge against the family, took screenshots of his daughter's social-media account, created a fake Instagram ID in her name with a matching photograph, used AI technology to make an obscene video from her photo and circulated it to her classmates, friends and relatives; the complaint says the youth had earlier made two fake accounts using her and her mother's photographs and threatened to kill the whole family and to spread the video further when they objected (Dainik Bhaskar, Hindustan). The father submitted screenshots of the fake account and his daughter's mark-sheet as proof of her age. The station house officer said a case had been ordered registered and the investigation begun; Jagran reports the case under the Information Technology Act. The reports give no dates for the fake accounts, the video or its circulation; September 2026 is the month of the complaint (about 21-22 September) and of the circulation and threats the family describes as continuing, so the event date is recorded as unknown. The family is described as frightened. No arrest is reported.

Core concern High reported severity Involving minors Investigation Opened

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 4 sources · Added 26/09/2026

Event date unknownEvent location unknownUnidentified image and video tool

Conway police allege AI-generated sexual images and stalking

Police in Conway, New Hampshire, said in November 2025 that a 38-year-old Albany man had stalked a person for about a year and used AI tools to make 'deepfake' videos and photographs showing the victim in sexual acts that never happened, then shared them without consent. He was arrested in late October 2025 on charges including three counts of non-consensual dissemination of private sexual images, fraudulent use of deepfakes, stalking and receiving stolen property, and, as of reporting on 7 November, was held without bail pending a probable-cause hearing. These are police allegations; no conviction had been verified at review.

Core concern High reported severity Criminal Charges

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 2 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 13/01/2026

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: 05/10/2026. Dataset available under CC BY 4.0.