Human behaviour

AI incidents involving authority ambiguity

Headlights has recorded authority ambiguity as the main behaviour in 5 of the 234 incidents in the library (2%), and as a contributing behaviour in 1 more. They span 2016 to 2026. Most come from Financial services & insurance (1), Health & medicine (1), Policing, justice & courts (1).

Headlights' test for authority ambiguity

It was unclear who was entitled to decide, instruct or approve, and the system or staff acted anyway.

A behaviour tag is Headlights' reading of the public record, not a finding by any court, regulator or company. Each entry gives the one sentence in the record that supports it.

Main behaviour in the record · 5

HD-INC-213BC's Privacy Commissioner Ordered a City to Stop Its Licence Plate Recognition CamerasCanada · 2026 HD-INC-069Scammers used what appeared to be an AI clone of Italy's defence minister's voice, and a former Inter Milan owner wired about a million eurosItaly · 2025 HD-INC-039A finance worker at Arup paid out about US$25 million after a video call with colleagues who were all deepfakesHong Kong · 2024 HD-INC-033An Eating Disorder Charity's Chatbot Gave Dieting Advice Just as Its Human Helpline ClosedUnited States · 2023 HD-INC-026A Chevrolet Dealership's Chatbot Was Talked Into Selling a New Tahoe for One DollarUnited States · 2023

Also present · 1

HD-INC-083Microsoft's Tay chatbot learned from Twitter and within sixteen hours was posting racist and pro-Nazi messages, and Microsoft pulled itUnited States · 2016

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