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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
11
Countries with reported events
6
Located 7 of 11 cases · 4 unknown
Languages in checked sources
6
Recorded for 11 of 11 cases

1 case has no reviewed AI-to-person relation yet: 0 not yet reviewed and 1 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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11 of 1075 published cases

2025FranceUnidentified AI translation tool

Translators' associations say Harlequin France ended several dozen literary translators' work as it moved translation to an AI machine-translation agency

In a press release of 15 December 2025, the French literary translators' association ATLF and the collective En chair et en os said that over the previous weeks several dozen translators who worked regularly for Harlequin, the romance imprint of HarperCollins France, had received phone calls telling them their collaboration was ending and that their current contracts would be the last. According to the associations, an outside agency, Fluent Planet, would run the books through machine-translation software and recruit freelancers to post-edit the output, and the affected translators were offered only lower-paid post-editing work for the agency. 404 Media reported that HarperCollins said it would start translating Harlequin novels in France using AI. HarperCollins France disputed a full switch: it said no collection is translated by AI alone, spoke of tests against a background of falling sales. Fluent Planet said AI assists the translator. The associations describe a loss of regular income for people who had worked with the publisher for up to twenty years, without unemployment rights as self-employed authors.

AI relation unknown Medium reported severity

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 4 sources · Added 01/11/2026

May 2026NorwayUnidentified AI writing tool

Norway's press council finds Nettavisen breached press ethics by publishing an AI-generated quote attributed to an environmental group's former leader

In an article in May 2026 about new EU rules on single-use plastics, the Norwegian news site Nettavisen attributed to the former leader of the environmental organisation Framtiden i våre hender a statement about plastic ketchup sachets that, according to the complaint, she never made. After the organisation reacted, the journalist confirmed that the quote was an 'AI mishmash', Journalisten reports. Nettavisen removed the quote the same day it was alerted, but the fabricated quote was also published in several other Amedia newspapers after Nettavisen had corrected it. The organisation complained to the Norwegian Press Complaints Commission (Pressens Faglige Utvalg, PFU), saying Nettavisen had published an AI-generated quote without source checks, fabricating a statement and wrongly attributing it to a named person, and that the correction and apology came too late. Nettavisen acknowledged a breach of the source-control rule and apologised, but rejected the other alleged breaches. On 28 October 2026 the PFU found that publishing the fabricated quote was a clear breach of good press practice (point 3.2 of the Code of Ethics) and that the quick correction did not make up for it; it did not hold Nettavisen responsible for other newspapers' failure to correct.

Contextual tracker case Low reported severity Regulatory Action

AI involvement supported · Causal attribution supported · 3 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 30/10/2026

Event date unknownIsraelUnidentified image tool

Jerusalem police say three boys aged 13 to 15 used AI to turn social-media photos of schoolgirls into nude images and spread them; at least 30 girls harmed

Israel Police said in February 2025 that three boys aged 13 to 15 from Jerusalem were suspected of taking photos of girls from social media, editing them with artificial intelligence software into nude images and distributing them without consent. According to Ynet, at least 30 girls were harmed; police said investigators identified dozens of victims and that a search of the suspects' homes found edited nude images of several girls. The head of the Jerusalem district youth investigations unit described dozens of cases of girls' privacy being violated through nude images edited with AI technology. The three were questioned over publishing a sexual image without consent, and the case was passed to prosecutors to decide on charges.

Core concern High reported severity Involving minors Investigation Opened

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 2 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 22/10/2026

Event date unknownUnited KingdomUnidentified image tool

Staffordshire: man jailed after police say he used AI platforms to make indecent images of women and a girl and posted them in Telegram groups

Staffordshire Police said a man used artificial intelligence platforms to create indecent images of women and girls and posted a series of the AI-generated pornographic images in closed Telegram groups, as reported by BBC News, the Daily Express and The Sentinel. Investigators found that in some captions he called for the women depicted to be raped and assaulted. The Sentinel reports the police account as images of women and a girl that had been run through AI. He was arrested after the images were reported to police, pleaded guilty at Stafford Crown Court to eight counts of publishing an obscene article and one of permitting the taking of a pseudo-photograph of a child, and was jailed for two years and two months. No source names or counts the people depicted.

Core concern High reported severity Criminal Charges

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution established · 3 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 22/10/2026

May 2026Event location unknownChatGPT and Claude (reported)

Author of The Future of Truth acknowledges synthetic and misattributed quotes linked to his AI research tools; two people quoted say the quotes are not theirs

Ars Technica reported on 22 May 2026 that a New York Times investigation that week found what Steven Rosenbaum acknowledged are "a handful of improperly attributed or synthetic quotes" in his book The Future of Truth: How AI Reshapes Reality, linked to his use of AI tools while researching it. Rosenbaum told Ars that ChatGPT and Claude were used heavily to gather information and that AI-sourced material was tagged in his notes and passed to a fact-checker and copy editors provided by the publisher. According to Ars, the Times identified six problematic citations among the book's 285 outside citations, including three synthetic quotes with no apparent source. Tech reporter Kara Swisher told the Times she never said a quote attributed to her, and professor Lisa Feldman Barrett said quotes attributed to Barrett do not appear in Barrett's book and are wrong. Rosenbaum said he was working with editors on a citation audit to correct future editions. WIRED later removed an excerpt from the book, saying it did not meet its editorial standards.

Core + contextual relations Low reported severity Media Coverage

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution supported · 2 sources · Added 18/10/2026

Event date unknownUnited KingdomUnidentified image tool

Greater Manchester: former supply teacher jailed for six years; prosecutors say he used AI to make sexualised images of pupils from their social media photos

A former supply teacher who worked at secondary schools in Greater Manchester was jailed for six years at Bolton Crown Court on 15 October 2026 after pleading guilty to 21 offences, including publishing obscene material and taking indecent photographs of children. The Crown Prosecution Service says he used his position to find pupils' details, located their social media profiles and used AI to create sexualised images from their own photos, which he shared on social media; the BBC reports some were posted on X. Parents reported two accounts to police in March 2025. The court heard that one girl whose photograph had been used was left embarrassed. His offending also included more than 100 covert upskirt photographs taken in schools. The AI tool is not named.

Core concern High reported severity Involving minors Criminal Charges

AI involvement supported · Causal attribution supported · 2 sources · Added 16/10/2026

Jun 2025Event location unknownUnidentified image tool

Pennsylvania man sentenced to prison in a case where prosecutors and court documents say he made AI deepfake nude images of a teenage neighbor

A Bucks County, Pennsylvania, judge sentenced a man to state prison on 14 October 2026 after he pleaded guilty to child sexual abuse material and theft charges. According to court documents and prosecutors, detectives who began investigating him in June 2025 found AI-generated deepfake nude images of a teenage girl he knew, a neighbor, on his devices; her face had been placed on other bodies. The day after the arrest he was recorded entering her family's home and stealing her underwear. Her father described the family's distress in court, and the Inquirer reports that she is struggling at school, taking antidepressants and in therapy. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports a sentence of seven to 10 years. The Bucks County Courier Times gave seven to 12 years in its first report and seven to 20 years after republishing it to update the sentence length. Neither report names the AI tool.

Core concern High reported severity Involving minors Criminal Charges

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution supported · 3 sources, 2 underlying accounts · Added 15/10/2026

2024Event location unknownUnidentified image tool

Man who used AI to make fake nude images of female relatives, alongside secret shower recordings, jailed 27 months, outlet reports

Stomp reported on 4 October 2026, citing Shin Min Daily News, that a man was sentenced to 27 months’ jail after pleading guilty to four of ten charges involving the taking, distribution and possession of intimate images. According to the report, he secretly filmed female family members showering from 2024 and shared images with other men, and investigations also found that he used AI to create fake nude images of female relatives. He shared some of the AI images with a male cousin, who was also involved in creating and distributing them. AI-generated nude images and secret recordings were found on another phone he had borrowed after his release on bail, and a family member made a further police report. One female relative said the incident left her depressed and unable to eat or sleep properly. The court barred the media from publishing information that could identify the victims, including the man’s name.

Core concern Medium reported severity Criminal Charges

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution supported · 2 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 06/10/2026

19 Mar 2026United States, United KingdomPangram AI-text detector

US and UK: Hachette cancels the US edition of the novel Shy Girl and discontinues the UK edition after allegations it was AI-generated, with the author denying personal use of AI

On 19 March 2026 Hachette Book Group said it had cancelled the US publication of the horror novel Shy Girl by Mia Ballard (Orbit imprint) and would not continue the UK edition (Wildfire imprint, first released in November 2025). Reports say the decision followed an investigation by Hachette and came a day after the New York Times asked the publisher about online allegations that the text was largely AI-generated. The allegations came from readers on Goodreads, Reddit and YouTube and from AI-detector results, including a 78.4 percent AI-generated score on the Pangram detector that a publishing consultant says two other services confirmed. Ballard denied personally using AI in emails to the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, and told the New York Times that an acquaintance hired to edit the original self-published version used AI. Ballard wrote that "my name is ruined" and "my mental health is at an all time low", and said legal action was being pursued. Hachette’s public statements cite its commitment to original creative expression. The sources inspected do not report what its investigation found. Whether AI generated any of the text, and who used it, is unresolved.

Contextual tracker case Medium reported severity

AI involvement disputed · Causal attribution disputed · 9 sources, 4 underlying accounts · Added 29/09/2026

Jun 2025Event location unknownChatGPT

Delaware court finds Krafton fired three Unknown Worlds executives without valid cause in a takeover that followed its CEO's ChatGPT strategy

A Delaware Court of Chancery opinion of 16 March 2026 finds that in June 2025 the CEO of Krafton, after being warned that a dismissal with cause would not eliminate a contingent earnout obligation, consulted ChatGPT. The chatbot answered that the earnout would be difficult to cancel, suggested an internal task force (Project X) whose mandate was to negotiate a deal or execute a takeover of the studio, and prepared a "Response Strategy to a No-Deal Scenario" that recommended locking down the studio's Steam and console publishing rights and build-pipeline access. The court found that Krafton followed most of these recommendations over the next month: it locked the studio out of its Steam publishing rights, which severed the studio's practical ability to launch its game and forced the studio's CEO to the negotiating table, posted a message on the studio's websites, and on 1 July 2025 sent termination letters to the studio's two founders and its CEO. The court held that Krafton breached the acquisition agreement by terminating the three executives without valid Cause and by improperly seizing operational control, reinstated the studio's CEO and extended the earnout period by 258 days. The opinion records that the Krafton CEO had begun exploring options including firing the executives before consulting ChatGPT, and does not find that ChatGPT recommended the terminations. Krafton said it disagreed with the ruling. On 1 July 2026 Krafton announced a mutual settlement with the studio and the three executives dismissing all pending proceedings; IGN, citing Bloomberg, reported that the studio's CEO stepped down as part of it.

Contextual tracker case Medium reported severity

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

25 Oct 2025IndiaUnidentified video tool

Hyderabad, India: actor Chiranjeevi files a cybercrime complaint over AI-generated obscene videos using his face on pornographic websites; police register a case under the IT Act and BNS

On 25 October 2025 the Telugu actor and former Union minister Konidela Chiranjeevi gave Hyderabad cybercrime police a written complaint that several pornographic websites were publishing obscene videos made with AI that morphed his face and likeness, and asked for a criminal and technical investigation and removal of the content, including from mirror sites. Police registered a case under Sections 67 and 67A of the IT Act, several sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act. In the complaint he said the videos caused severe and irreparable harm to his reputation and personal and emotional distress to him and his family. He had already obtained an ad-interim injunction from the Hyderabad City Civil Court protecting his name, image and likeness (Gulf News); V6 Velugu reports that he had gone to that court in September 2025 over the same kind of deepfake videos and that on 26 September it ordered their removal. A September 2026 NewsX recap reports that Hyderabad Police Commissioner V C Sajjanar said the cybercrime team was working to trace those responsible.

Core concern Medium reported severity Investigation Opened

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 5 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 29/09/2026

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: 01/11/2026. Dataset available under CC BY 4.0.