Stanford Acknowledges AI-Edited Dining Photo Violated University Policy
Stanford said the edits violated its AI policy, and the university is adding staff training after removing the banners.
- Stanford University acknowledged Tuesday that artificial intelligence was used to alter a photograph of three students for promotional materials, replacing a white male student with a Black woman and making two other students appear thinner.
- The controversy erupted Monday after The Stanford Review, an independent student publication, reported that Stanford Residential & Dining Enterprises had used AI to alter the photo; Billy Ramirez discovered the alteration when a friend sent him a side-by-side comparison while driving back to campus.
- Ramirez initially found the alteration "hilarious that they changed his race and gender," but upon reflection felt "silenced and erased" from a portrayal meant to represent him, noting that AI tools like Claude have grown in use over his four years at Stanford.
- Stanford removed the promotional banners and committed to working with Residential and Dining Enterprises to provide additional training; the comparison images spread rapidly across Fizz, X, Instagram and TikTok after Ramirez posted them online.
- The incident emerges amid significant shifts in Stanford's racial enrollment following the Supreme Court's 2023 affirmative action ruling, with Black student enrollment falling from 8.9% to 4.5%, while the altered banner echoes a 26-year-old Onion satire titled 'Black Guy Photoshopped In.
76 Articles
76 Articles
Stanford University Admits Using AI to Erase a Latino Student From Its Advertising: Meet Billy Ramínrez
A Stanford University student's discovery that he had been replaced by an AI-generated Black woman in a campus advertisement has raised questions about digital identity, diversity in university marketing and the use of artificial intelligence without students' knowledge.
They Used AI To Race-Swap Him...
They Used AI To Race-Swap Him... Authored by Steve Watson via Modernity.news, Stanford University took a real photograph of three students in a dining hall, ran it through artificial intelligence, and published the result as a "Welcome Home" banner. However, one of those students, Hispanic undergrad Billy Ramirez, class of 2027, was gone. In his place stood an AI-generated Black woman. The two students next to him had their faces slimmed and alt…
Stanford University has admitted that its Residential & Dining Enterprises (R&DE) department used generative artificial intelligence to alter a promotional photo of three students. Hispanic student Billy Ramirez was replaced with a fictional black woman, and two other students had their faces altered to appear thinner. The university admitted that this violated its own […] The post University used artificial intelligence to replace student with …
Students outraged after Stanford University uses AI to alter race, appearances in promotional photo
Stanford University is facing criticism after using artificial intelligence to alter a photo of three students and changing the appearance and race of people depicted in the image, prompting accusations that the university violated its own AI policy.
Stanford violated its AI policy by changing Hispanic man into black woman in promo banner
‘Alteration and lack of disclosure’ violated school policy, official says Stanford University was caught using AI to alter students’ appearances in promotional materials, including digitally transforming one male student into a black female this week. University spokesperson Charlene Gage told Inside Higher Ed that the school violated its own AI policy and has removed the […]
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