incident
What It Means
An AI incident is when an artificial intelligence system causes or nearly causes real harm to people, property, or the environment. This includes both actual damage that occurred and close calls where serious problems were narrowly avoided. It covers technical failures, security breaches, and situations where AI systems behaved in unexpected or harmful ways.
Why Chief AI Officers Care
AI incidents can trigger regulatory investigations, lawsuits, and significant financial losses while damaging your company's reputation and customer trust. Many jurisdictions now require organizations to report AI incidents to authorities, making incident tracking a compliance necessity. Understanding and preventing incidents is essential for maintaining operational stability and demonstrating responsible AI governance to stakeholders.
Real-World Example
In 2018, an Uber self-driving car struck and killed a pedestrian in Arizona because the AI system failed to properly classify the person walking with a bicycle, causing a delay in emergency braking. This incident led to criminal charges, massive legal settlements, regulatory scrutiny, and ultimately contributed to Uber shutting down its autonomous vehicle program.
Common Confusion
People often think AI incidents only refer to dramatic failures like autonomous vehicle crashes, but they actually include much more common issues like biased hiring algorithms, chatbots providing harmful advice, or facial recognition systems misidentifying people. The key is that any AI system behavior that causes or nearly causes real-world harm qualifies as an incident.
Industry-Specific Applications
See how this term applies to healthcare, finance, manufacturing, government, tech, and insurance.
Healthcare: In healthcare, an AI incident occurs when AI-driven diagnostic tools, treatment recommendations, or clinical decision su...
Finance: In finance, an AI incident occurs when AI systems cause material financial losses, regulatory violations, market disrupt...
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Includes:
- 6 industry-specific applications
- Relevant regulations by sector
- Real compliance scenarios
- Implementation guidance
Technical Definitions
NISTNational Institute of Standards and Technology
"a situation in which AI systems caused, or nearly caused, real-world harm."Source: AI_Incident_Database
"the occurrence of a technical event that affects the integrity of a Product and/or Model."Source: FBPML_Wiki
"an alleged harm or near harm event to people, property, or the environment where an AI system is implicated."Source: AI_Incident_Editors
"Adverse event(s) in a computer system or networks caused by a failure of a security mechanism, or an attempted or threatened breach of these mechanisms."Source: Hasan,_Raza
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