BP New Zealand's License Plate Recognition System Reportedly Misidentified Auckland Driver for Fuel Theft in Whanganui

December 25, 2024

BP’s license plate recognition system, a critical component of safe and secure AI practices in the transportation sector, reportedly misidentified an Auckland resident, Buddhika Rajapakse. The suspect vehicle, being of a different make, model, and color, was allegedly linked to petrol thefts in Whanganui by the system. BP has acknowledged a possible doctored plate but persisted in sending multiple payment requests to the wrong individual. This incident highlights the importance of responsible AI governance and the need for trustworthy AI systems that minimize harm. JOIN US to learn more about our efforts to prevent incidents like this through HISPI Project Cerebellum TAIM (Govern).

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Alleged deployer
bp-new-zealand
Alleged developer
unspecified-developer-of-bp's-license-plate-recognition-system
Alleged harmed parties
drivers-whose-vehicles-are-scanned-by-bp-new-zealand's-license-plate-recognition-system, buddhika-rajapakse

Source

Data from the AI Incident Database (AIID). Cite this incident: https://incidentdatabase.ai/cite/932

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

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