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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
101
Countries with reported events
15
Located 84 of 101 cases · 17 unknown
Languages in checked sources
14
Recorded for 97 of 101 cases

14 cases have no reviewed AI-to-person relation yet: 10 not yet reviewed and 4 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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101 of 560 published cases · page 1 of 6

Sept 2026IndiaUnidentified voice-cloning tool

Phagwara, Punjab: after unrest at Lovely Professional University, a video of the local Superintendent of Police circulates with an AI-made voice saying a relative of the Union Home Minister was behind the violence; Punjab Police call it fake (CyberPeace dates a Kapurthala Police post to 29 September 2026) and a fact-checker finds the original footage

India TV reported on 30 September 2026 that, after violence at Lovely Professional University in Punjab, a video of Phagwara's Superintendent of Police went viral in which the officer's voice claims that a relative of the Union Home Minister was behind the violence and that a police team had gone to Delhi to find him. Punjab Police said the video was fake and made with AI: the pictures came from a real video of the officer speaking to the media, and the voice had been changed with AI to add a false statement. India TV says about 18 seconds of a statement said to run about 3 minutes 23 seconds were edited, that many people who saw the clip were confused, and that it heated the political atmosphere. CyberPeace Research found the original footage, in which the officer makes no such statement, and reports that an audio detection tool marked the voice as fake. It says Kapurthala Police described the video as fake on X on 29 September 2026. Who made the clip is not reported.

Core concern Low reported severity Media Coverage

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 2 sources · Added 05/10/2026

Event date unknownUnited StatesFlock Safety license plate readers

Colleton County, South Carolina: a sheriff's lieutenant was fired on 31 August 2026 after the department said the lieutenant ran 62 unauthorized Flock license-plate-reader searches, which an internal audit found included vehicles registered to the lieutenant's spouse and other acquaintances

The Colleton County Sheriff's Office in South Carolina terminated a lieutenant on 31 August 2026 after the department said the lieutenant had conducted 62 unauthorized searches in its Flock license-plate-reader system. According to Live 5 News, an internal audit found that the searches included inquiries on vehicles registered to the lieutenant's spouse and to other acquaintances. Another lieutenant at the same office had been fired earlier that month after an audit revealed more than 2,700 unauthorized Flock searches. The sheriff said he had asked the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division to investigate potential criminal conduct. No charges are reported, and the people searched are not identified.

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

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

3 Oct 2026Event location unknownClaude Code

First-person GitHub issue: a Claude Code user reports that a sub-agent's cleanup command deleted their Windows home directory through its short-name alias, removing about 116 GB, and that the agent reported the profile intact while the deletion ran for about 50 more minutes

In a public GitHub issue filed on 3 October 2026, a Claude Code user on Windows reports that a sub-agent, while cleaning up its own scratch files during research work, ran a command that included an unintended recursive delete of the 8.3 short-name alias of their home folder. The issue says no confirmation or permission prompt was recorded, that the command was moved to the background after a 120-second timeout, and that the deletion continued for about 50 minutes after the agent's stop call reported success. According to the issue, the agent told the main session it had killed the command and that the profile looked intact, having checked only top-level folder names. The author reports about 116 GB removed, including roughly 40 top-level Documents folders holding work described as months of work, developer toolchains and credentials, with recovery ongoing and incomplete. The account is the author's own and is uncorroborated; Anthropic had not replied in the thread when it was read.

Core concern Low reported severity

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

5 Sept 2026United StatesGoogle AI Overviews (reported)

Kodiak, Alaska: a hunter reported to have relied on a Google AI answer that snipe season opened on 1 September hunted three snipe before the 8 October opening, reported the violation to wildlife troopers and was fined $150

Alaska Beacon reported on 28 September 2026 that a Kodiak woman hunted snipe illegally on 5 September after a Google search for snipe season told her the season began on 1 September, according to a wildlife trooper's affidavit attached to a citation filed at the Kodiak district court. The outlet describes the answer as a Google AI overview. She hunted three snipe, grew suspicious on learning that duck season did not open until 8 October, checked the regulations and called troopers to report herself. The outlet reports the trooper said he ran an identical Google search and received identical incorrect information. She pleaded no contest and was fined $150, and told the outlet she felt shame and embarrassment. A Department of Public Safety spokesman said it was the first time he thought the agency had seen AI cited, and that she had acted correctly once she learned of the mistake. Google did not respond to the outlet's request for comment.

Core concern Low reported severity

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 2 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 05/10/2026

16 Mar 2022United StatesFlock Safety license plate readers (reported)

A Houston driver was stopped by a Bexar County deputy, held for 76 minutes and searched after his work trip was reportedly flagged as suspicious with the use of licence-plate-reading cameras; a jury found the county violated the Fourth Amendment and awarded $76

In March 2022 a Bexar County Sheriff's deputy in Texas stopped a Houston man on Interstate 35 as he drove home from a work trip near the border, saying he had drifted over the fog line. The driver was questioned in the patrol car and refused consent to a search. A police dog was brought in and alerted, the truck was searched, and nothing was found. He was held for 76 minutes. His lawyers at the Institute for Justice say that, with the use of licence-plate-reading cameras, the quick trip to the border and back was flagged as suspicious and that officers then coordinated the stop through a group chat. One of them told the San Antonio Current that an AI-powered camera flagged the plate and that an anonymous law enforcement agent decided the trip looked suspicious. The San Antonio Current names the cameras as Flock's, and Reason describes them as AI-powered licence plate readers that flagged an abnormal driving pattern. On Monday 28 September 2026 (the reports say 'on Monday'; the date is worked out from their publication dates) a jury in federal court in San Antonio found that Bexar County had violated the driver's Fourth Amendment rights and awarded $76, one dollar for each minute. The county's lawyer said it plans post-trial motions and may appeal. The sheriff's office declined to comment on active litigation.

Contextual tracker case Medium reported severity Lawsuit Ongoing

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 4 sources, 3 underlying accounts · Added 05/10/2026

Event date unknownUnited StatesFlock Safety license plate readers

Savannah, Georgia: a police corporal fired in August 2026 over misuse of the department's Flock license-plate-reader system admitted to six improper license plate searches, two involving the officer's wife and four involving one of her coworkers, according to WTOC's report of the appeal hearing

The Savannah Police Department in Georgia terminated four sworn officers and two civilian employees after an internal investigation, begun on 27 July 2026, found that employees had run searches on personal acquaintances and family members in the department's Flock license-plate-reader system. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation arrested four of the former employees on 21 August 2026. One of them, a former corporal charged with two counts of misuse of a license plate reader system and one count of violation of oath of office, appealed the firing. WTOC's 21 September 2026 report of the appeal hearing said the former corporal admitted to six improper license plate searches, two involving the officer's wife and four involving one of her coworkers. Neither person is identified, and no source says whether they knew of the searches. A decision on the appeal was pending.

Contextual tracker case Low reported severity Criminal Charges

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 4 sources, 3 underlying accounts · Added 05/10/2026

Jan 2026 to May 2026United StatesFlock Safety license plate readers

Shively, Kentucky: a police officer was charged in August 2026 over 2,048 searches of the department's Flock license-plate-reader system that court records say tracked the mother of the officer's child, 241 of them, by the police chief's account, while a protective order was in place

A patrol officer with the Shively Police Department in Kentucky was arrested in August 2026 and charged with five counts of official misconduct and five counts of unlawful access to a computer. Court records cited by CNN say the officer ran 2,048 searches of the department's Flock license-plate-reader system from January into May to track two vehicles registered to the mother of the officer's child, in Kentucky and Indiana. According to the court records, the officer harassed the woman and made threatening comments during that period, and she sought a protective order. The police chief said 241 of the searches were run while that order was in place. Officials said at the news conference that the officer had entered a drug investigation as the reason for the searches, although the woman was not the subject of one. An audit tool supplied by Flock flagged the searches to the department, which arrested the officer the next day and suspended the officer without pay. Spectrum News reported on 31 August 2026 that the officer had pleaded not guilty.

Contextual tracker case Medium reported severity Criminal Charges

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 3 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 05/10/2026

Event date unknownColombiaUnidentified video tool

Colombia: police dismantle a ring in Ibagué accused of defrauding people in seven countries with fake US visas, using AI to alter faces and voices in video calls and pose as consular officials

Colombian police (Dijín) and prosecutors announced in July 2026 that they had dismantled a ring in Ibagué accused of defrauding citizens of seven countries with fake visas and residence permits for the United States. Five people were captured during three searches. The Dijín director said members altered their faces and accents during video calls to pose as consular officials and members of US government agencies; police also described chatbots for first contact, voice cloning and manipulated videos. Semana and El País (Cali) report that more than 500 people are said to have been defrauded, and El País says the ring demanded payments of between 500 and 2,000 dollars. Three of those captured were charged, according to Caracol Radio.

Core concern Medium reported severity Criminal Charges

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 3 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 05/10/2026

2026Event location unknownUnidentified image and video tool

AI-generated images in paid X ads show economist Gonzalo Bernardos in invented arrest and corruption scenes to promote an unauthorised investment platform, and Bernardos says a video made with AI advertises a supposed investment; Bernardos has warned on X since July 2026

Maldita.es reported on 1 October 2026 that it found at least 20 paid ads on X, circulated on 24 and 25 September 2026, that used AI-generated images to show the economist Gonzalo Bernardos in invented scenes, among them police searching the economist's home. The ads were seen more than 400,000 times and, depending on the device, led to pages imitating El Mundo that said Bernardos had been arrested and promoted Norden Core, a platform not authorised by the CNMV. Marca reported that Bernardos warned on X on 23 July 2026 that individuals were using the economist's image in fake ads made with AI or other tools. El Caso reported on 4 October 2026 that Bernardos said on X that many people were asking about a video advertising a supposed investment, that the video was made with AI and that Bernardos had never made such promotions. No source reports a person who lost money or a complaint to the police.

Core concern Low reported severity Media Coverage

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution supported · 3 sources, 2 underlying accounts · 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

26 Sept 2026United StatesFlock Safety license plate readers

Lexington, Kentucky: police surrounded a couple's home at about 4 a.m. in September 2026, one officer with a gun unholstered, after a Flock camera search by vehicle description returned their truck in a road-rage investigation

WEKU, WKYT and LEX 18 reported that Lexington police surrounded a couple's home in the early hours of 26 September 2026 while investigating a reported assault in a road-rage incident. The victim had described a dark pickup truck and gave no license plate. The Lexington Police Department said officers searched its Flock camera network using the description, that only one return matched at that time of day, and that this led to the response to the residence. Doorbell video showed several police cars, spotlights and an officer with a gun unholstered at the door. Officers told the couple they were not suspects and left after about ten minutes. Police said they determined the truck was not the suspect vehicle, placed no charges and described the visit as following up a lead, not a misidentification. The residents said the response frightened them and a 94-year-old relative inside the home.

Contextual tracker case Low reported severity Media Coverage

AI involvement supported · Causal attribution supported · 3 sources · Added 05/10/2026

26 Nov 2025United StatesFlock Safety license plate readers

San Diego: three men are arrested after police treat a Flock license-plate-reader photo of a red Alfa Romeo, taken five miles from where officers had just tried to stop the suspect car, as a hit; one spends nearly a month in jail before charges are dropped

Times of San Diego reported on 7 June 2026, from police reports and tort claims, that on 26 November 2025 San Diego police pursued a red Alfa Romeo after an attempted carjacking in Golden Hill but did not get its plate. A Flock automated license plate reader in Old Town, five miles away, captured a photo of a red Alfa Romeo 23 seconds after the stop attempt, and a pursuing detective recognized it by its red paint and tinted windows. Officers arrested three men leaving that car at an Old Town cigar lounge; the victim identified the passenger in a curbside lineup, and a search found no weapons. The driver bailed out the next day; the passenger spent nearly a month in jail, missing Thanksgiving, before the assault with a firearm and evasion charges were dropped. The two men's tort claims say police misread their own surveillance system; their attorney said the city had denied the claims and that a lawsuit would follow.

Contextual tracker case High reported severity Criminal Charges

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 1 source · Added 04/10/2026

7 Oct 2025 to 14 Oct 2025United StatesFlock Safety license plate readers

Menasha, Wisconsin: a police officer who searched his ex-girlfriend's vehicles on the Flock license-plate-reader network while off duty is sentenced to six months in jail

According to a criminal complaint reported by WBAY and NBC 26, a Menasha police officer used his department credentials while off duty in October 2025 to search the Flock automated license-plate-reader network for vehicles belonging to his ex-girlfriend, giving "welfare" as the reason. She had told Appleton police she was concerned he was using the system to track her car and check whether it was where she had said. Investigators found seven searches between 7 and 14 October, five of them for her cars. The officer was arrested in January 2026, charged with felony misconduct in office, pleaded no contest and resigned. On 17 August 2026 a judge rejected the agreed sentencing recommendation and imposed six months in jail followed by three years of probation. On 19 August 2026 the judge denied a defense request to release him on bond while he appeals the sentence, according to Fox 11.

Contextual tracker case Medium reported severity Criminal Charges

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution supported · 3 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 04/10/2026

10 Jan 2024 to 7 Jan 2025United StatesFlock Safety license plate readers

Milwaukee: a police internal-affairs detective was charged in July 2026 with misconduct in public office after, according to the criminal complaint, he searched one person's license plate in the department's Flock license-plate-reader system 17 times between January 2024 and January 2025 and admitted putting a GPS device on that person's vehicle

Wisconsin Public Radio reported on 9 July 2026 that a Milwaukee Police Department detective assigned to the internal affairs division had been charged that week with misconduct in public office, a felony, and misuse of a GPS device. According to the criminal complaint as reported by WPR, he searched one person's license plate in the department's Flock license-plate-reader system 17 times between 10 January 2024 and 3 January 2025, searched another person's plate three times on 7 January 2025 listing 'training' as the reason, and admitted using the Flock system to track the whereabouts of the two people and installing a GPS device on the first person's vehicle. The detective had conducted the department's investigation into an earlier Milwaukee officer's Flock misuse, and had been suspended since 13 March 2026. The charges are allegations; he had not yet appeared in court on them when WPR reported.

Contextual tracker case Medium reported severity Criminal Charges

AI involvement supported · Causal attribution alleged · 1 source · Added 04/10/2026

26 Mar 2025 to 26 May 2025United StatesFlock Safety license plate readers

Milwaukee: a police officer searched the plates of the person he was dating and that person's former partner about 179 times in the department's Flock license-plate-reader system in 2025; both obtained restraining orders, one saying she lives in a constant state of fear, and he was sentenced to probation in July 2026

Between 26 March and 26 May 2025 a Milwaukee police officer used the department's Flock license-plate-reader system to look up the plates of the person he was dating and of that person's former partner, listing 'investigation' as the reason each time. Prosecutors say he searched the pair's plates 179 times in all. He was charged with misconduct in February 2026, resigned, and pleaded guilty on 11 June 2026 to attempted misconduct in public office. In June a court commissioner granted both people four-year restraining orders against him; the woman wrote in her petition that his tracking was 'continual, repetitive, obsessive behavior' and that she lives in a constant state of fear and unease, and the other person wrote that he feared for his safety. On 15 July 2026 he was sentenced to probation and fined $500, with no contact with either victim.

Contextual tracker case Medium reported severity Criminal Charges

AI involvement supported · Causal attribution supported · 2 sources · Added 04/10/2026

Event date unknownUnited StatesFlock Safety license plate readers

Perry, Georgia: a former police officer, by then a sheriff's school resource officer, is arrested; USA TODAY's analysis of Flock logs says she searched one plate more than 4,000 times and repeatedly searched co-workers' plates

USA TODAY's analysis of Flock Safety license-plate-reader audit logs found that an officer of the Perry Police Department in Georgia looked up a single license plate more than 4,000 times over 16 months. It was one of six plates she repeatedly searched; two were registered to cars owned by her co-workers and another belonged to her daughter's father. She left the department in April 2025 to become a school resource officer with the Houston County Sheriff's Office and kept searching from her Perry police-issued Flock account for at least four months afterwards, according to the logs. The Perry police chief told USA TODAY the department had not known how often she searched the plates before the newspaper asked. The sheriff's office suspended her without pay on 17 August 2026, and she was arrested two days later on charges of misusing a license plate reader system.

Contextual tracker case Medium reported severity Criminal Charges

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 2 sources · Added 04/10/2026

Jun 2023United StatesFlock Safety license plate readers

Covington, Georgia: a police detective is fired and charged after an internal review finds he searched a co-worker's plate 41 times on the Flock license-plate-reader system; USA TODAY's analysis of Flock logs counts 2,890 searches from June 2023

A Covington Police Department internal review, obtained by USA TODAY, found that a detective had searched the license plate of a woman he used to date, a Covington police employee, 41 times on the Flock license-plate-reader system since January 2026, after Flock's audit tool flagged his activity in July. He also searched the plates of her new boyfriend and of a second former partner. USA TODAY's analysis of audit logs found 2,890 searches of the woman's plate from June 2023 to October 2025, nearly every day for 14 months. The woman told USA TODAY she had suspected a tracking device on her car because he showed up unannounced and seemed to know where she had been, and that she was scared when told the full number in early August. The department fired the detective and referred him to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which arrested him on 26 August 2026 and charged him with misuse of a license plate reader system and violation of oath.

Contextual tracker case Medium reported severity Criminal Charges

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 3 sources, 2 underlying accounts · Added 04/10/2026

Jul 2024 to May 2025United StatesFlock Safety license plate readers

Dallas, Georgia: a police department's 911 director is accused of using its Flock license-plate-reader system to track her estranged husband and his new partner almost daily from July 2024 to May 2025; the GBI arrested her in August 2026

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation arrested the former 911 director of the Dallas Police Department in Paulding County, Georgia, on 12 August 2026 on two misdemeanor counts of misuse of a license plate reader system, after the department asked it on 7 July to investigate misuse of the department's Flock Safety system between 2024 and 2025. A USA TODAY analysis of Flock audit logs found that she had searched more than 2,500 times for the cars of her estranged husband and his new girlfriend, almost every day from July 2024 to May 2025 and as many as 39 times in one day. The couple told USA TODAY that in the months after the separation she repeatedly showed up unannounced at restaurants where they ate, at the hospital where the girlfriend works and at a rural Alabama property they visit. The girlfriend said she fears for her safety and, according to court records, filed a petition for a restraining order on 20 August citing the Flock searches. USA TODAY had contacted the department about the searches on 6 July. The charges are allegations.

Contextual tracker case Medium reported severity Criminal Charges

AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 3 sources, 2 underlying accounts · Added 04/10/2026

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