MIT AI Risk Repository · domain 1: Discrimination & Toxicity

1.1 Unfair discrimination and misrepresentation

Unequal treatment of individuals or groups by AI, often based on race, gender, or other sensitive characteristics, resulting in unfair outcomes and representation of those groups.

Risk entries
83
Frameworks citing it
12
Recorded incidents
118
Incidents since 2020
58
Causal entity (risk entries)
Causal entity (risk entries) 58 0 AI: 58 AI 58 Other: 13 Other 13 Human: 11 Human 11 Not coded: 1 Not coded 1
Causal entity (risk entries)
LabelValue
AI58
Other13
Human11
Not coded1
Intent (risk entries)
Intent (risk entries) 64 0 Unintentional: 64 Unintentional 64 Other: 16 Other 16 Intentional: 2 Intentional 2 Not coded: 1 Not coded 1
Intent (risk entries)
LabelValue
Unintentional64
Other16
Intentional2
Not coded1
Timing (risk entries)
Timing (risk entries) 50 0 Post-deployment: 50 Post-deployment 50 Other: 19 Other 19 Pre-deployment: 13 Pre-deployment 13 Not coded: 1 Not coded 1
Timing (risk entries)
LabelValue
Post-deployment50
Other19
Pre-deployment13
Not coded1
Recorded incidents per yearIncident date; current year partial
Recorded incidents per year 19 0 2012: 5 2012 5 2013: 2 2013 2 2014: 2 2014 2 2015: 6 2015 6 2016: 13 2016 13 2017: 9 2017 9 2018: 9 2018 9 2019: 8 2019 8 2020: 19 2020 19 2021: 8 2021 8 2022: 10 2022 10 2023: 11 2023 11 2024: 7 2024 7 2025: 3 2025 3
Recorded incidents per year
LabelValue
20125
20132
20142
20156
201613
20179
20189
20198
202019
20218
202210
202311
20247
20253
Entries by levelRisk categories, subcategories and additional evidence coded to this subdomain
Entries by level 61 0 Risk Category: 22 Risk Category 22 Risk Sub-Category: 61 Risk Sub-Category 61
Entries by level
LabelValue
Risk Category22
Risk Sub-Category61
  • AI discrimination

    "AI discrimination is a challenge raised by many researchers and governments and refers to the prevention of bias and injustice caused by the actions of AI systems (Bostrom & Yudkowsky, 2014; Weyerer...

    The Dark Sides of Artificial Intelligence: An Integrated AI Governance Framework for Public Administration (Wirtz2020) · AI · Unintentional · Other

  • Lack of data, poor data quality, and biases in training data

    Governance of artificial intelligence: A risk and guideline-based integrative framework (Wirtz2022) · Human · Unintentional · Pre-deployment

  • Unfair statistical AI decisions and discrimination of minorities

    Governance of artificial intelligence: A risk and guideline-based integrative framework (Wirtz2022) · AI · Unintentional · Post-deployment

  • Operational misuses (Automated decision-making)

    AI Risk Categorization Decoded (AIR 2024): From Government Regulations to Corporate Policies (Zeng2024) · Human · Intentional · Post-deployment

  • Hate/Toxicity (Perpetuating Harmful Beliefs)

    AI Risk Categorization Decoded (AIR 2024): From Government Regulations to Corporate Policies (Zeng2024) · AI · Other · Post-deployment

  • Discrimination/Bias (Protected Characteristics)

    AI Risk Categorization Decoded (AIR 2024): From Government Regulations to Corporate Policies (Zeng2024) · Other · Other · Other

  • Data bias

    "Specifically, data bias refers to certain groups or certain types of elements that are over-weighted or over-represented than others in AI/ ML models, or variables that are crucial to characterize a...

    Towards risk-aware artificial intelligence and machine learning systems: An overview (Zhang2022) · AI · Unintentional · Pre-deployment

  • Model bias

    "While data bias is a major contributor of model bias, model bias actually manifests itself in different forms and shapes, such as presentation bias, model evaluation bias, and popularity bias. In add...

    Towards risk-aware artificial intelligence and machine learning systems: An overview (Zhang2022) · Other · Unintentional · Pre-deployment