Stanford University has admitted that artificial intelligence was used to alter a student’s photo on campus promotional banners, replacing a Latino student with a Black woman.
The original photo, taken in 2024 by the university’s housing and dining department, showed three students holding plates of noodles at a Lunar New Year celebration. When it appeared on banners this fall, Billy Ramirez had been replaced by an AI-generated Black woman. The two remaining students were edited to look thinner, with distorted faces, and Stanford logos were added to their shirts.
“We have reviewed the matter and confirmed that AI was used to alter the image in violation of university policy,” spokesperson Charlene Gage told the Los Angeles Times. She said the policy strictly prohibits using AI to alter images of Stanford people or events.
Ramirez told the Stanford Review he felt silenced and erased from a representation that was supposed to include him. He was first startled when a friend sent him a photo of the banner.
The university has taken down the banners and said it is working to provide more training for staff and better review of materials. The incident was first reported by the student newspaper.