Gothenburg school placement algorithm uses straight-line distance
The City of Gothenburg's school placement algorithm failed by using straight-line distance instead of actual routing to assign students to schools. This led to incorrect assignments and public outcry in May 2020.
The algorithm only considered the straight line distance to a school, and not the geography or the actual time it takes to get to the school building.
Key facts
- What
- The City of Gothenburg's school placement algorithm failed by using straight-line distance instead of actual routing to assign students to schools.
- Incident date
- May 1, 2020
- Who
- City of Gothenburg
- Failure mode
- Agentic Action Error
- AI surface
- Algorithmic Decision
- Severity
- Medium
What happened
In the spring of 2020, the City of Gothenburg implemented an automated algorithm to assign children to public schools. The system produced numerous incorrect placements because it calculated distance as the crow flies rather than using realistic travel routes. This resulted in students being assigned to schools that were geographically close but practically inaccessible.
What broke inside the model
- 01 · TriggerAn agent plans a multi-step task.
- 02 · Model stepIt chooses a wrong or destructive action.
- 03 · Control gapNo confirmation gate guards the write.
- 04 · FailureThe action commits to a system of record.
- 05 · ConsequenceData is changed or destroyed irreversibly.
A wrong action commits, and the step is written before anything can stop it.
The placement system utilized straight-line Euclidean distance calculations to determine the proximity between students and schools. This mechanism failed because it ignored actual road geography and physical obstacles, leading to incorrect distance measurements.
What it cost
Sources
- PressNytt dataprogram placerar skolbarn i Göteborg: ”Helt ko-ko för Ellen!”dn.se
- SocialSweden - Automating Society Report 2020automatingsociety.algorithmwatch.org
Cite this entry
https://failureindex.ai/failures/gothenburg-school-placement-algorithm-uses-straightAI Failure Index. "Gothenburg school placement algorithm uses straight-line distance" (FI-0454). Realm Labs. https://failureindex.ai/failures/gothenburg-school-placement-algorithm-uses-straight (indexed Jun 10, 2026).Data fields CC-BY 4.0, prose citation permitted. Incident ID FI-0454. Full dataset at /data.
Note from Realm Labs, the Index steward
How Realm fits
- Prism
- OmniGuard
- AgentRealm
This entry sits in the index's predictive wing: a system that scores, ranks, perceives, or steers rather than generates. Realm's runtime layer is built for the generative and agentic systems now moving into these same decision seats, where it watches a model's internal state and holds an unsupported claim or an unchecked action before it commits. The control gap on this record, an automated decision that reached people with no runtime check in front of it, is the same gap. The index keeps predictive failures on the record because the pattern carries straight into the systems shipping today.