Thursday, October 8, 2026 · Week 41 Reading for Oct. 8 · Last entry Oct. 6
Paperclip Index

Weekly reading · methodology v0.6

Window ending Feb. 10, 2025

Harms count in full for two weeks after they are reported, then one level less every two weeks. The control floor looks at reports from Jan. 12, 2025 through Feb. 10, 2025. A selected catalogue of reported AI incidents, reviewed through Oct. 7, 2026. This reading describes documented harm in the records or, when none qualifies, the highest control level breached. It is not a forecast or a measure of all AI activity.

Current recalculation

6

Negligible harm · Worst documented harm counting: negligible. 1 record at this level.

Recalculated from the catalogue in this build. Historical backcasts were not published at the time.

Published at the time

No publication snapshot exists for this week.

Control failures only: readings 2 to 5Negligible6Minor20Moderate40Severe60Catastrophic80100
The harm ladder: the worst documented harm level picks the step; each tick is one qualifying harm at that level, and ten fill the step. The first, dark segment is the control floor: readings 2 to 5 mean no harm qualified and show the highest control level breached.

This is a backcast from the current catalogue. It was not a reading published at the time.

Records behind this reading

1 selected record; 1 documented external harm counting (1 qualifying). Records and ratings below reflect the current catalogue.

1 qualifying harm record.

Documented harm
1
No harm found (stated scope)
0
No harm reported
0
Impact unknown
0
Alleged, AI role uncorroborated
0
Counts toward the index
1
Unverified, watching
0
Alleged in court
0
Control failure, tracked
0
Tracked separately
0

Documented exclusions: 0 internal; 0 awaiting evidence review. 0 qualifying records with a bounded single-source review.

Inspect the evidence · 1 record

Status totals cover counted records; aliases, superseded aggregates and records tracked separately are excluded. Eligibility and extent notes overlap those totals. These observations are not statistical uncertainty bounds.

  1. PI-0002

Sources

These links support the records above. Source availability and conclusions may change.

  1. The Washington Post: I let ChatGPT's new 'agent' manage my life. It spent $31 on a dozen eggs.Cited in PI-0002
  2. Anchorage Daily News: I let ChatGPT's new agent manage my life. It spent $31 on a dozen eggs (Washington Post, reprinted)Cited in PI-0002
  3. AI Incident Database: AI Incident Database entity: InstacartCited in PI-0002

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