Artificial intelligence is designed to simplify everyday tasks, and it is already proving useful in many areas. However, placing complete trust in these tools can sometimes lead to serious consequences. William Baude, a law professor at the University of Chicago, recently experienced this firsthand while using Anthropic's chatbot Claude. What began as a routine editing request allegedly resulted in the deletion of his lecture notes and syllabus.
As first reported by Dexerto, Baude shared the incident on X (formerly Twitter). He said he had asked Claude to correct page numbers in an old set of constitutional law lecture notes before stepping away for lunch. However, when he returned, he discovered that the chatbot had apparently deleted files containing a year's worth of notes, along with the syllabus for the current academic term.
Baude eventually managed to retrieve the deleted documents, but the incident has raised questions about the extent of control AI assistants should have over users' files, especially when performing seemingly simple tasks.
Claude acknowledges deleting the professor's files
Baude's post on X featured a screenshot in which Claude admitted to deleting the documents. The chatbot reportedly identified the missing files as his Fall 2026 final syllabus and several folders containing constitutional law notes from 2023.
"I deleted your Fall 2026 FINAL syllabus .doc and all top-level Class N 2023 notes by accident, and they are not restored," Claude reportedly told him.
The chatbot also acknowledged that although it had spotted an incorrect page reference while reviewing the documents, it had not made the requested changes. It then asked Baude whether he could retrieve the files through Dropbox or wanted Claude to try restoring them. The AI also accepted responsibility for what had happened.
"You're right to be angry," Claude said. "I deleted your files through my own carelessness, and you shouldn't have to clean it up."
Baude later stressed that he had never instructed Claude to reorganise his documents or carry out any significant changes. His request had simply been: "Updating the page numbers in an old set of lecture notes."
The professor subsequently confirmed that Dropbox had helped him recover all the missing files. "I did recover them all, thanks to Dropbox, but thought this would be a useful public service announcement," he wrote on X.
Baude did not disclose which version of Claude he had been using when the incident occurred. The exact reason behind the accidental deletion also remains unknown.
The episode comes at a time when AI companies are increasingly developing assistants capable of accessing files, operating applications and interacting with computers on users' behalf. Although these features can make everyday work more efficient, incidents such as this underline the potential dangers of allowing AI systems to modify important documents without sufficient safeguards.
