In the USA, artificial intelligence imprisoned an innocent woman and ruined her life

In the US, a woman spent more than five months in prison due to the fact that the police mistakenly identified her using a facial recognition system, Bild reports.

"50-year-old Angela Lipps was arrested in July 2025 in Tennessee on suspicion of bank fraud in North Dakota, although she claimed she had never been there. The reason for the detention was the result of a check through a program with elements of artificial intelligence, which gave her name as a possible suspect," the report says.

According to the investigation, the woman was detained by armed police at home when she was looking after her grandchildren. She spent almost half a year in custody until a new lawyer got the case reviewed and found evidence of her innocence. The charges were eventually dropped.

"While I was in prison, I couldn't pay the bills. I lost everything—my house, my car, and even my dog. Now I'm trying to rebuild my life," Lipps told reporters.

The police of the city of Fargo in North Dakota began an internal audit. Police Chief David Zibolski said that the staff misinterpreted the result of the system.

"Another police department used its own artificial intelligence system and gave us a possible match. He was mistaken for an accurate identification. It was a mistake," he said.

The department introduced additional checks and allowed only specially trained employees to use the face recognition system.