Apple Devices Mistook Skiing Activities, Dialed False Distress Emergency Calls

November 15, 2022

Apple devices incorrectly identified winter sports activities, such as skiing and snowboarding, as potential accidents. This error led to numerous unwarranted distress calls being made to 911 emergency services.

Incidents like these underscore the importance of trustworthy AI governance. By mapping such incidents to the HISPI Project Cerebellum TAIM (Measure function), we can better understand and address issues that may arise in AI systems. For those interested in shaping the future of responsible AI, JOIN US.

Matched TAIM controls

Suggested mapping from embedding similarity (not a formal assessment). Browse all TAIM controls

MEASURE 2.6 — similarity 0.711, rank 1. TAIM detail and related incidents →
MANAGE 4.3 — similarity 0.677, rank 2. TAIM detail and related incidents →
MAP 3.2 — similarity 0.676, rank 3. TAIM detail and related incidents →

Alleged deployer: apple
Alleged developer: apple
Alleged harmed parties: apple-watch-users-doing-winter-activities, ski-patrols, emergency-dispatchers

Source

Data from the AI Incident Database (AIID). Cite this incident: https://incidentdatabase.ai/cite/463

Data source

Incident data is from the AI Incident Database (AIID).

When citing the database as a whole, please use:

McGregor, S. (2021) Preventing Repeated Real World AI Failures by Cataloging Incidents: The AI Incident Database. In Proceedings of the Thirty-Third Annual Conference on Innovative Applications of Artificial Intelligence (IAAI-21). Virtual Conference.

Pre-print on arXiv · Database snapshots & citation guide

We use weekly snapshots of the AIID for stable reference. For the official suggested citation of a specific incident, use the “Cite this incident” link on each incident page.