{"attribution":{"source":"AI Incident Database (Responsible AI Collaborative)","license":"CC BY-SA 4.0","license_url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/","citation":"McGregor, S. (2021). Preventing Repeated Real World AI Failures by Cataloging Incidents: The AI Incident Database. Proceedings of the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IAAI-21).","snapshot_date":"2026-09-07"},"exported_at":"2026-09-11"}
{"rows":[{"incident_id":387,"occurred_on":"2014-12-22","title":"Oracle's Algorithmic Data Processing System Alleged as Unlawful and Violating Privacy Rights","description":"Oracle's automated system involving algorithmic data processing was alleged in a lawsuit to have been unlawfully collecting personal data from millions of people and violating their privacy rights.","mit_domain":"Privacy & Security","mit_subdomain":"Compromise of privacy by obtaining, leaking or correctly inferring sensitive information","entity":"AI","intent":"Intentional","timing":"Post-deployment","harm_level":"none","sectors":["information and communication"],"countries":["US"],"deployers":["Oracle"],"developers":["Oracle"],"harmed":["Privacy","internet users","Biometric data subjects"],"report_count":1},{"incident_id":326,"occurred_on":"2014-12-09","title":"Facebook Automated Year-in-Review Highlights Showed Users Painful Memories","description":"Facebook’s “Year in Review” algorithm which compiled content in users’ past year as highlights inadvertently showed painful and unwanted memories to users, including death of family member.","mit_domain":"AI system safety, failures, and limitations","mit_subdomain":"Lack of capability or robustness","entity":"AI","intent":"Unintentional","timing":"Post-deployment","harm_level":null,"sectors":[],"countries":[],"deployers":["Facebook"],"developers":["Facebook"],"harmed":["Facebook Users Having Posts About Painful Events, Facebook Users"],"report_count":3},{"incident_id":35,"occurred_on":"2014-10-18","title":"Employee Automatically Terminated by Computer Program","description":"An employee was laid off, allegedly by an artificially intelligent personnel system, and blocked from access to the building and computer systems without their knowledge.","mit_domain":"AI system safety, failures, and limitations","mit_subdomain":"Lack of capability or robustness","entity":"AI","intent":"Unintentional","timing":"Post-deployment","harm_level":"none","sectors":["administrative and support service activities"],"countries":["US"],"deployers":["Unknown"],"developers":["Unknown"],"harmed":["Ibrahim Diallo"],"report_count":20},{"incident_id":334,"occurred_on":"2014-10-01","title":"Uber Deployed Secret Program To Deny Local Authorities Rides","description":"Uber developed a secret program \"Greyball\" which prevented known law enforcement officers in areas where its service violated regulations from receiving rides.","mit_domain":"Malicious Actors & Misuse","mit_subdomain":"Fraud, scams, and targeted manipulation","entity":"AI","intent":"Intentional","timing":"Post-deployment","harm_level":null,"sectors":[],"countries":[],"deployers":["Uber"],"developers":["Uber"],"harmed":["Local Law Enforcement Officers"],"report_count":2},{"incident_id":260,"occurred_on":"2014-08-26","title":"US DHS’s Opaque Vetting Software Allegedly Relied on Poor-Quality Data and Discriminated against Immigrants","description":"US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)’s ATLAS software used in vetting immigration requests was condemned by advocacy groups as a threat to naturalized citizens for its secretive algorithmic decision-making, reliance on poor quality data and unknown sources, and alleged discrimination of immigrants using biometric and sensitive information.","mit_domain":"Discrimination and Toxicity","mit_subdomain":"Unfair discrimination and misrepresentation","entity":"AI","intent":"Intentional","timing":"Post-deployment","harm_level":null,"sectors":[],"countries":[],"deployers":["Us Department Of Homeland Security, Us Citizenship And Immigration Services"],"developers":["Us Citizenship And Immigration Services"],"harmed":["Us Naturalized Citizens, Us Immigrants, Us Citizenship Applicants, Us Immigration Applicants"],"report_count":2},{"incident_id":8,"occurred_on":"2014-08-15","title":"Uber Autonomous Cars Running Red Lights","description":"Uber vehicles equipped with technology allowing for autonomous driving running red lights in San Francisco street testing.","mit_domain":"AI system safety, failures, and limitations","mit_subdomain":"Lack of capability or robustness","entity":"AI","intent":"Unintentional","timing":"Post-deployment","harm_level":"AI tangible harm near-miss","sectors":["transportation and storage"],"countries":["US"],"deployers":["Uber"],"developers":["Uber"],"harmed":["Pedestrians, Motorists"],"report_count":9},{"incident_id":10,"occurred_on":"2014-08-14","title":"Kronos Scheduling Algorithm Allegedly Caused Financial Issues for Starbucks Employees","description":"Kronos’s scheduling algorithm and its use by Starbucks managers allegedly negatively impacted financial and scheduling stability for Starbucks employees, which disadvantaged wage workers.","mit_domain":"Socioeconomic & Environmental Harms","mit_subdomain":"Increased inequality and decline in employment quality","entity":"AI","intent":"Intentional","timing":"Post-deployment","harm_level":"AI tangible harm event","sectors":["accommodation and food service activities"],"countries":["US"],"deployers":["Starbucks"],"developers":["Kronos"],"harmed":["Starbucks employees"],"report_count":9},{"incident_id":24,"occurred_on":"2014-07-15","title":"Robot kills worker at German Volkswagen plant","description":"A Volkswagen plant robot \"crushed to death\" a worker by pinning him to a metal plate. ","mit_domain":"AI system safety, failures, and limitations","mit_subdomain":"Lack of capability or robustness","entity":"AI","intent":"Unintentional","timing":"Pre-deployment","harm_level":"none","sectors":["manufacturing"],"countries":["DE"],"deployers":["Volkswagen"],"developers":["Volkswagen"],"harmed":["Robotics Consultant"],"report_count":27},{"incident_id":527,"occurred_on":"2014-05-08","title":"Tech Companies Reportedly Influenced Gig Workers' Behaviors Using Algorithms to Vary Pay for Same Amount of Work","description":"Amazon and Uber were alleged in a multiyear ethnographic study using algorithmic systems based on gig workers' data to vary pay, such as by offering them lower wages for the same amount of work.","mit_domain":"Discrimination and Toxicity","mit_subdomain":"Unfair discrimination and misrepresentation","entity":"AI","intent":"Intentional","timing":"Post-deployment","harm_level":null,"sectors":[],"countries":[],"deployers":["Uber","Amazon"],"developers":["Uber","Amazon"],"harmed":["Uber drivers","gig workers","Amazon delivery workers"],"report_count":2},{"incident_id":246,"occurred_on":"2014-04-16","title":"Misreading of an Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) Unverified by Police, Resulting in Traffic Stop in Missouri","description":"An automated license plate reader (ALPR) camera misread a 7 as a 2 and incorrectly alerted the local police about a stolen Oldsmobile car, which was allegedly not able to be verified by an officer before a traffic stop was effected on a BMW in Kansas City suburb.","mit_domain":"AI system safety, failures, and limitations","mit_subdomain":"Lack of capability or robustness","entity":"AI","intent":"Unintentional","timing":"Post-deployment","harm_level":null,"sectors":[],"countries":[],"deployers":["Prairie Village Police Department"],"developers":["Unknown"],"harmed":["Mark Molner"],"report_count":2},{"incident_id":380,"occurred_on":"2014-03-04","title":"Facebook's Auto-Generated Targeting Ad Categories Contained Anti-Semitic Options","description":"Facebook's automated advertising categories generated using users' declared interests contained anti-Semitic categories such as \"Jew hater\"  and \"How to burn Jews\" which were listed as fields of study.","mit_domain":"Discrimination and Toxicity","mit_subdomain":"Exposure to toxic content","entity":"AI","intent":"Unintentional","timing":"Post-deployment","harm_level":null,"sectors":[],"countries":[],"deployers":["Facebook"],"developers":["Facebook"],"harmed":["Jewish People"],"report_count":5},{"incident_id":46,"occurred_on":"2014-01-21","title":"Nest Smoke Alarm Erroneously Stops Alarming","description":"In testing, Google Nest engineers demonstrated that the Nest Wave feature of their Nest Protect: Smoke + CO Alarm could inadvertently silence genuine alarms.","mit_domain":"AI system safety, failures, and limitations","mit_subdomain":"Lack of capability or robustness","entity":"AI","intent":"Unintentional","timing":"Post-deployment","harm_level":"none","sectors":["other"],"countries":["US"],"deployers":["Nest Labs"],"developers":["Nest Labs"],"harmed":["Fire Victims"],"report_count":6},{"incident_id":162,"occurred_on":"2014-01-01","title":"ETS Used Allegedly Flawed Voice Recognition Evidence to Accuse and Assess Scale of Cheating, Causing Thousands to be Deported from the UK","description":" International testing organization ETS admits voice recognition as evidence of cheating for thousands of previous TOEIC test-takers that reportedly included wrongfully accused people, causing them to be deported without an appeal process or seeing their incriminating evidence.","mit_domain":"AI system safety, failures, and limitations","mit_subdomain":"Lack of capability or robustness","entity":"AI","intent":"Unintentional","timing":"Post-deployment","harm_level":"AI tangible harm event","sectors":["education","public administration"],"countries":["GB"],"deployers":["ETS"],"developers":["ETS"],"harmed":["UK Home Office","UK ETS test takers","UK ETS past test takers"],"report_count":1}]}