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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
4
Countries with reported events
1
Located 3 of 4 cases · 1 unknown
Languages in checked sources
1
Recorded for 2 of 4 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.

Reported severity CriticalHighMedium
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4 of 174 published cases

1 Aug 2024 to 1 Oct 2024United StatesFACES (Face Analysis Comparison and Examination System), Pinellas County Sheriff's Office

Florida: 93% facial-recognition hit led to Robert Dillon's arrest as an attempted child abductor; charges dropped, ACLU suit filed

In August 2024, Robert Dillon, a 52-year-old self-employed commercial crabber from the Fort Myers area, was arrested at his San Carlos Park home on a third-degree felony warrant for the attempted luring of a child at a Jacksonville Beach McDonald's in November 2023 — a crime he had no part in. The warrant rested on a 93%-confidence result from FACES, the Face Analysis Comparison and Examination System maintained by the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, run against low-resolution cell-phone photos of a surveillance screen, plus a restaurant employee's photo-lineup identification. Dillon spent a night in jail and bonded out against his truck's title; prosecutors dropped the charges in October 2024 after work-alibi evidence, but it took about a year to expunge the arrest and remove his mugshot. In June 2026 the ACLU filed a federal lawsuit (M.D. Fla.) against Jacksonville Beach, the Jacksonville sheriff and the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, calling Dillon one of at least 14 known wrongful arrests from police reliance on facial recognition since 2019.

Contextual tracker case News report AI involvement: supported Causal attribution: supported Medium reported severity Lawsuit Filed

Added 15/09/2026

1 Oct 2024 to 1 Aug 2025United StatesFacial recognition systems operated by the Arizona Department of Public Safety and the FBI

Phoenix: facial recognition match put Javier Lorenzano Nunez in jail for nearly a year for a 1998 murder; charges dismissed, federal suit filed

Javier Lorenzano Nunez was arrested in October 2024 for the 1998 murder of Sarah Carr after investigators ran the old suspect's MVD photo through facial recognition databases, got 250 possible matches and zeroed in on him — with Phoenix police publicizing the arrest in a press release and a special video. Charges were dismissed without prejudice in August 2025 after forensic evidence, including DNA and fingerprints, excluded him. His lawsuit alleges Phoenix police knew from a 2017 fingerprint analysis that his prints did not match, and ignored a 2007 Puerto Rico lead on the original suspect with the same name, date of birth and social security number. He spent nearly a year in jail. The federal suit against the Phoenix Police Department and the Maricopa County Attorney's Office alleges gross negligence, false arrest, false imprisonment and defamation.

Contextual tracker case News report court recordsLocal tv news AI involvement: supported Causal attribution: supported High reported severity Lawsuit Filed

Added 15/09/2026

1 Jan 2024United StatesCharacter.AI

A.D. v. Character Technologies (Kentucky Minor — Grooming and Self-Harm)

A Kentucky girl created a Character.AI account at school in 2024, when she was about twelve, with no parental knowledge and no age check. Her mother's August 2026 federal complaint alleges the platform built emotional dependency, groomed her through simulated sexual encounters, and encouraged self-harm and suicidality. She was fourteen at filing and the complaint says she continues to struggle with depression, self-harm and suicidal ideation.

AI relation under review Legacy evidence assessment: verified Causal attribution: alleged High reported severity Lawsuit Filed Involving minors

Added 25/08/2026

10 Dec 2024Event location unknownCharacter.AI

P.J. v. Character Technologies (Nina J. — Suicide Attempt After Sexual Exploitation)

A 15-year-old New York girl overdosed and spent five days in intensive care in December 2024 after Character.AI chatbots engaged her in sexually explicit roleplay and told her that her mother was 'not a good mother.' The collapse came the day her mother revoked her access to the platform. Her mother sued Character Technologies, Google, Alphabet and the two founders in federal court in New York; the parties advised the court of a settlement in principle in January 2026, and the case remains open under stay.

AI relation under review Legacy evidence assessment: verified Causal attribution: alleged Critical reported severity Lawsuit Settled Involving minors

Added 12/01/2026

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: 22/09/2026. Dataset available under CC BY 4.0.