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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
34
Countries with reported events
17
Located 31 of 34 cases · 3 unknown
Languages in checked sources
11
Recorded for 34 of 34 cases

2 cases have no reviewed AI-to-person relation yet: 2 not yet reviewed and 0 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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34 of 613 published cases · page 1 of 2

2 Feb 2026 to 4 Feb 2026IndiaUnidentified video tool (suspected)

Indore parents paid Rs 1.02 lakh after a video call appeared to show their missing son threatened; police suspect a deepfake video, and he returned safe

In February 2026 a 16-year-old boy in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, did not return home from a coaching class, and his family filed a missing-person complaint. While they searched, they received a video call from unknown people who claimed to be holding him; the call showed a boy appearing to be threatened with a knife and the callers demanded about Rs 1 lakh through a QR code. In fear, the parents transferred Rs 1.02 lakh. The boy was found safe within two days and said he knew nothing of any video call. Additional DCP (Crime) Rajesh Dandotia told reporters that the family was convinced because they saw what looked like their own child, that police have strong reasons to believe deepfake technology was used, and that the crime branch is investigating; The Indian Express reports that police believe it is the city's first known case of deepfake technology used for extortion. Accounts differ on where the boy had been. The AI involvement is recorded as suspected because no forensic finding is reported.

Core concern Medium reported severity Investigation Opened

AI involvement suspected · Causal attribution alleged · 3 sources · Added 11/10/2026

Oct 2026ArgentinaUnidentified image and video tool

Tucumán, Argentina: schoolgirls allege a classmate made about 280 AI nude images of them that spread on WhatsApp and were sold; sit-in protests 8 and 9 Oct 2026

Girls at a secondary school in the locality of San Pablo, Tucumán province, Argentina, reported in October 2026 that a male classmate had used artificial-intelligence tools to generate about 280 sexual images of them, placing their faces on naked bodies, and that the images circulated in WhatsApp groups and, they later learned, were sold. The families raised the matter with the school, which acknowledged in a communiqué to families that it had received parents concerned about photographs and videos altered with AI showing adolescents' faces on naked female bodies, and announced a listening and formative day for 13 October 2026. Student delegates told Cadena 3 that pupils from first to fifth year, aged 12 to 18, were affected, that a pupil described as a friend of the accused alerted the girls, and that the school's response was insufficient; the students held sit-ins outside the school on Thursday 8 and Friday 9 October 2026 demanding an investigation, the examination of the accused pupil's phone and his expulsion. A pupil at the protest told Tendencia de Noticias (9 October 2026) that the accused first sold the images among classmates and then opened an OnlyFans page to sell them to people outside the school; the school's legal representative told the outlet that two pupils were involved and that the Ministry of Education and the archdiocese had been notified. The allegations rest on the students' and families' accounts and the school's communiqué as relayed by the press; a mother told La Gaceta (10 October 2026) that the mother of one of the most affected girls had filed a complaint and the prosecutor's office had intervened, which no authority is reported to have confirmed; the tool is not named, and the accused pupil is a minor.

Core concern Medium reported severity Involving minors Internal Action

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

Event date unknownChileUnidentified image tool

Villa Alemana, Chile: school says a sexualised image of a teacher, created or altered with AI, was shared without her consent in a fathers’ WhatsApp group

In a public statement reported on 8 October 2026 by BioBioChile, La Cuarta and MargaMargaTV, a subsidised private school in Villa Alemana, Valparaíso region, Chile, said that a sexualised image of one of its teachers, created or modified with artificial intelligence, had been shared without her consent in a WhatsApp group of male parents. The school said it had activated its institutional protocols and that the relevant institutional and legal actions should be taken; Radio Bío Bío reported that no legal action had been filed at the time of publication. The tool used is not identified, no outlet examined the image, and the account rests on the school’s statement.

Core concern Low reported severity Internal Action

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 3 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 09/10/2026

Event date unknownArgentinaUnidentified image and video tool

Lomas de Zamora, Argentina: families say pupils used AI to turn classmates’ photos into fake nudes that circulated and were sold; two 15-year-olds charged

On 7 October 2026 pupils and families protested outside a private secondary school in Lomas de Zamora, Buenos Aires province, after families reported that a group of pupils had used artificial intelligence to alter real photographs of female classmates so that they appeared naked, and had circulated the images through social networks and messaging apps. Families told reporters that the images were compiled in a "catalogue" pairing each girl’s original social-media photo with the manipulated version, that some were offered for money on adult sites, and that the girls were traumatised and ashamed. Urgente24 reported that two 15-year-old pupils were charged (imputados) in the juvenile prosecutor’s case, that investigators had identified 45 possible victims while families spoke of about 50, and that, according to information circulating, the school had decided the pupils involved would continue classes online and would not be re-enrolled for 2027; El Destape, by contrast, reported that the school did not plan to sanction or expel them and would hold awareness talks, and El Destape and Código Baires describe the move to online classes as a measure under evaluation. Families also allege the school knew for about a month before telling parents. The allegations have not been tested in court and the AI tool is not identified.

Core concern Medium reported severity Involving minors Criminal Charges

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 3 sources · Added 08/10/2026

Event date unknownUnited StatesUnidentified image tool

New Orleans: former school teacher charged with 60 counts of unlawful deepfakes; investigators say an AI platform turned social-media photos into sexual images

Louisiana's Attorney General announced on 2 April 2026 that a former New Orleans school teacher and coach, already in custody since 8 January 2026 on child sexual abuse material charges, had been rearrested on 60 counts of unlawful deepfakes. According to court records reported by Fox 8, investigators from the Louisiana Bureau of Investigation say the former teacher obtained photographs that account owners had posted on social media, placed them into an online artificial intelligence platform and obtained AI-generated sexual images of the females with their faces unchanged, including collages and images of the same females at various stages of life; the females appear to be from the New Orleans metro area. Prosecutors said the images were made from teenage girls' Instagram posts, while the school emailed parents that it did not know who the depicted girls were. A grand jury indicted the former teacher on 27 May 2026 on 102 counts including 60 counts of unlawful deepfakes of minors. The number and identities of the depicted people are not reported, no source dates the creation of the images, and the charges are untested in court.

Core concern High reported severity Criminal Charges

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 4 sources, 2 underlying accounts · Added 08/10/2026

Event date unknownMexicoUnidentified image tool

Campeche, Mexico: pupils accuse a high-school classmate of making AI nude images of female classmates and protest school inaction, a local paper reports

La Jornada Maya reported on 5 October 2026 that pupils at an upper-secondary school (preparatoria) in Campeche, Mexico, accused a classmate of making images of female classmates without clothes using digital applications, which the paper describes as AI used to make obscene photos and as images that are not real photos but use the girls' faces. The pupils reported him to teachers and administrators. According to the paper, no action to protect the girls was known, and on Monday classmates and some of the affected girls protested during the school's official ceremony, where the sound was cut off when they tried to use the microphone. Afternoon-shift pupils later held a peaceful demonstration at the school entrance and parents were seeking a response. No complaint to prosecutors or police is reported.

Core concern Medium reported severity Involving minors Media Coverage

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 1 source · Added 06/10/2026

10 Jul 2026ChileUnidentified image tool

Chile: Puente Alto students find AI-made fake nude images of female classmates, families say; school suspends those involved, Superintendency investigates

Teletrece reported on 3 October 2026 that on 10 July 2026 female students at a secondary school in Puente Alto, Chile, found fake sexual images of themselves and other students on a classmate's phone. Families say the images were made with AI tools from ordinary photos the girls had posted on Instagram, that four students took part in obtaining, editing and circulating them, and that the material reached other students. Some of the girls had panic attacks, according to their parents. The school suspended the students identified as responsible for 15 days; after their return, parents say, they mocked the girls, a fight followed, and a parent accuses the father of one of the students involved of threats and of loitering near the school, after which she says they filed reports with the PDI. The Superintendencia de Educación confirmed a formal investigation of the school.

Core concern High reported severity Involving minors Investigation Opened

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 2 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 04/10/2026

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

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 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 unknownAustraliaUnidentified image tool

Girls at a Tasmanian school reportedly depicted in AI-generated sexual images shared in a boys' group chat

Police in Tasmania received a report about alleged illegal online activity involving a group of students at a school in the south of the state, and on 19 March 2026 a local outlet reported that the incident may have involved AI-generated content. On 29 April 2026 the ABC reported, citing Tasmania Police, that girls at the school had their likenesses used to make AI-generated sexual images. Two parents told the ABC that police said 21 girls had been identified as victims, that the AI-altered photos were shared in a boys' group chat and that the images appeared to have been taken from social media. Five boys are alleged to have created the images and have left the school. Tasmania Police said no charges were laid and the five youths were dealt with under the Youth Justice Act. The parents said their daughters felt isolated and unsupported, and the school principal denied that families were advised to withhold information from their children. The creation date and the AI tool are not reported.

Core concern Medium reported severity Involving minors

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

24 Mar 2026Event location unknownWebinarTV

WebinarTV: patient foundation reports its 24 March 2026 Zoom support-group meeting for family members and caregivers was recorded and listed on WebinarTV by the next morning

The Graves' Disease & Thyroid Foundation reports that a Zoom support-group meeting it held on 24 March 2026 for parents, spouses and caregivers, with registration-form screening and waiting-room admission, was recorded without permission and listed on WebinarTV's website. The host writes that an email from a WebinarTV sender named 'Sarah Blair', found the next morning in a spam folder, said an On Demand page with Chapters had been set up for the meeting. The host adds that the chapters roughly matched the topics discussed and that it appears the content had also been turned into an AI-generated podcast. The host says a registrant with an email address ending in '.space' did not respond during introductions, that the removal link in the email apparently took the listing down, and that the host told the participants, contacted Zoom and filed complaints against WebinarTV. WebinarTV's chief executive told 404 Media and NBC Los Angeles that the company lists only public webinars and notifies hosts by email. The sources do not state how many people attended, whether the recording showed faces or names, or whether an automated agent made the recording.

Core concern Low reported severity

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 3 sources, 2 underlying accounts · Added 29/09/2026

Event date unknownGreeceUnidentified image tool

Two 16-year-old students in Greece reportedly arrested over AI-edited nude or semi-nude images of classmates

On 21 February 2025 Greek outlets reported a Hellenic Police statement saying two 16-year-old students had been taken in from their school on 19 February 2025. According to the statement, they exchanged online photographs of classmates that they had processed with an AI program so the classmates appeared nude or semi-nude, and the photographs came from social media or were received without consent. A case file was formed against the students for child sexual abuse material and against their parents for neglect of supervision. The number of classmates depicted, the creation date and the outcome are not reported.

Core concern Medium reported severity Involving minors

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 4 sources, 2 underlying accounts · Added 29/09/2026

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 unknownUnited KingdomUnidentified image tool

County Armagh school pupils reportedly depicted in AI-generated explicit images shared among pupils

BBC News and other outlets reported on 18 and 19 January 2026 that the Police Service of Northern Ireland opened an investigation after a report that AI-generated explicit images were shared among pupils at a County Armagh school. The principal wrote to parents that the school became aware on 8 January, believed it had identified all pupils whose images were manipulated and those allegedly responsible, and put the number targeted in the single figures. The principal described a particularly difficult time for the pupils depicted. The creation date, the AI tool and the outcome of the investigation are not reported.

Core concern Medium reported severity Involving minors

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

2025MexicoUnidentified image tool

Zacatecas, Mexico: students report AI-altered sexual images of hundreds of classmates at a secondary school

In November 2025 parents and students at a secondary school in the city of Zacatecas blocked a road and occupied the school after reporting that a classmate had altered photos of schoolmates with AI applications and posted them online. Parents estimated about 400 affected students. The state prosecutor's office opened an investigation for crimes against sexual intimacy and reported 46 complaints in an N+ report published 13 November, while saying it had not located the online page or obtained any image and had not determined whether AI or another application was used. The school director and a social worker were separated from their posts after parents said they minimized the reports. Claims about AI use and the number affected are unverified in the inspected reports.

Core concern Medium reported severity Involving minors

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 6 sources, 2 underlying accounts · Added 29/09/2026

27 Jan 2026 to 28 Jan 2026JapanChatGPT (reported)

Hachioji, Tokyo: police say five high-school students assaulted a 17-year-old boy and demanded 150,000 yen, a figure they believe one of the group got from ChatGPT by asking about settlements for 'sexual harm to a child'

Sankei Shimbun reported on 10 June 2026, and NTV on 13-14 June, that the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's juvenile crimes division had arrested five high-school students on suspicion of injury and attempted extortion. According to the police account, late on 27 January 2026 a suspect who had previously dated a 17-year-old high-school boy invited him to a public square in Hachioji, where the group accused him of having touched her younger sister, assaulted him and broke his nose, and then told him to raise 150,000 yen, borrowing from his parents or friends if necessary. About ten people were present. Police believe the amount came from ChatGPT: one of them entered terms such as 'sexual harm to a child', and the chatbot displayed a minimum settlement of 150,000 yen. No payment is reported. Shukan Josei PRIME reports that four of the five admit the allegations and one partly denies them. The allegations are untested.

Core concern Medium reported severity Involving minors Criminal Charges

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

3 Sept 2026BrazilUnidentified image tool

Jaú, São Paulo: eight 15-year-old ninth-grade boys at a private school are reported to have made fake nude images of a female classmate with artificial intelligence and shared them in a WhatsApp group; the school suspended them and the Civil Police are investigating a 15-year-old for dissemination of child pornography and defamation

In early September 2026 a private school in Jaú, in the interior of São Paulo state, identified the circulation of fake intimate images of a female classmate made with artificial intelligence and contacted the families. According to the police report described by the press, eight ninth-grade boys, all aged 15, kept a WhatsApp group in which they used digital programs to manipulate images of the student so that she appeared unclothed. The school suspended the eight and informed the girl's parents. The father of one of the boys checked his son's phone, found the files and took the boy and the phone to the police to register a report; the girl's parents also registered a police report. The São Paulo Public Security Secretariat said the Civil Police are investigating a 15-year-old for dissemination of child pornography and defamation that occurred on the morning of Thursday 3 September. The school said the content originated on a private platform outside the school environment and that it had adopted protective and welcoming measures for the student and opened an internal inquiry. The AI tool used is not named. The students are minors and are not named in any report.

Core concern Medium reported severity Involving minors Investigation Opened

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution supported · 4 sources, 3 underlying accounts · Added 29/09/2026

Sept 2026GermanyUnidentified image tool

Oldenburg, Germany: numerous messages sent through one or more student accounts on Oldenburg schools' email servers contained AI-manipulated deepfake images of children and young people, some of which police say may meet the offence of distributing child or youth sexual abuse material, alongside threats of violence and calls to self-harm; students and parents reported it and police are investigating (September 2026)

The Oldenburg-Stadt police inspectorate said on 22 September 2026 that in the preceding days numerous messages had been sent through one or more student accounts on the email servers of Oldenburg schools. The messages contained, among other things, deepfakes (manipulated depictions of children and young people); on an initial assessment some of these could constitute the offence of distributing child or youth sexual abuse material, and some messages contained threats of violence and calls for recipients to harm themselves. According to dpa, students and parents reported the incidents to the police, and dpa, reporting a police spokesman, describes the images as made with artificial intelligence (the written police statement calls them deepfakes, manipulated depictions, without naming AI). Investigators are examining whether unknown persons gained unauthorised access to the accounts; first digital traces were secured and the police are working with the affected schools. RND reports that the accounts were on the IServ school platform, whose provider said it had no access to the messages and believed the incident was limited to Oldenburg. The exact number of schools (the police refer to 'the affected schools', plural), messages, depicted children and recipients, and who created the images, are not reported.

Core concern Medium reported severity Involving minors Investigation Opened

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 4 sources, 2 underlying accounts · Added 27/09/2026

Event date unknownUnited StatesUnidentified image tool

Gilmer County, Georgia: a vendor who restocked drink machines in local schools used AI applications to turn ordinary photographs of students into child sexual abuse material; prosecutors identified more than 150 underage victims, he was convicted on 118 counts and sentenced on 2 September 2026 to 40 years in prison, and parents of eight students sued Pepsi entities for keeping him on the school route

According to the DeKalb County District Attorney's Office, which prosecuted the case as conflict prosecutor, the investigation began in December 2024 when a Gilmer High School student told a school resource officer that a vendor who refilled drink machines on campus had asked her through a social media app to send him pictures. The Gilmer County Sheriff's Office arrested him in January 2025 and searched his devices, car and home. Prosecutors say he downloaded photographs of minors from social media and used AI applications and bots to alter them so the children appeared nude or engaged in sexual activity, and that the material related to more than 150 underage victims in Georgia and other states, many of them Gilmer County students. A Cobb County senior judge found him guilty on 13 August 2026 of 118 counts of sexual exploitation of children and on 2 September 2026, after 19 victim impact statements, sentenced him to 60 years with 40 to serve in prison. Separately, the parents of eight female students aged 12 to 17 sued him, Pepsi Beverage Co. and Pepsi-Cola Sales and Distribution in a suit reported on 28 February 2025, alleging the companies reinstated him to the same school route after students complained that he was photographing them; USA Herald reported the negligence suit again on 26 September 2026 and said Pepsi had not yet responded publicly. The AI tools are not named and the court and status of the civil suit are not reported.

Core concern High reported severity Involving minors Criminal Charges

AI involvement supported · Causal attribution supported · 8 sources, 5 underlying accounts · Added 27/09/2026

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: 11/10/2026. Dataset available under CC BY 4.0.