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Stanford University used AI to alter the appearances of students in promotional material
Stanford University has been caught seemingly using AI to alter students featured in promotional material. Not just minor edits, either, but tampering with the races and genders of students.
According to a report from the school’s newspaper, Stanford Residential & Dining Enterprises used AI to alter a promotional photo, replacing Billy Ramirez — a Latino, class of 2027 student — with an AI-generated Black woman. Other students in the same image were also digitally slimmed down.
Stanford University has been caught using AI to alter the appearances, races, and genders of students in promotional material
The alterations were first reported by The Stanford Review, which published side-by-side comparisons of the original photo against the doctored version used in official university materials.
Stanford just used AI to race swap a student for their advertisements. pic.twitter.com/xXjixdIyjU
— The Stanford Review (@StanfordReview) September 21, 2026
Ramirez told the newspaper he discovered the changes when a friend sent him the comparison images while he was driving to campus. While he found it funny at first, the more he thought about it, the more uncomfortable it made him.
“I was driving to school from my hometown when my friend sent me the images comparing the banner to the original photos, and I was immediately baffled,” Ramirez told The Stanford Review.
“At first, I found it hilarious that they had used AI to completely change our appearances, including my race and gender. But after looking at the comparison, I was also upset because I don’t agree with Stanford making those choices about how we were represented. Seeing my identity changed and being left out of the picture made me feel, in a way, silenced and erased from a representation that was supposed to include me.”
Stanford R&DE has not issued a public statement addressing the alterations or explaining the decision to use AI-generated substitutions rather than the students who actually appeared in the original photograph.