Stanford Replaced a Latino Man With an AI-Generated Black Woman in a Photo

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One can imagine a photographer scouring the quad for a group out of central casting, or asking students who’ve never met to take part in the college’s advertising campaign. But Stanford University took a shocking new approach this fall, using AI to replace a Latino man with a fictitious Black woman on banners displayed on campus.

The faces of the other students in the banner were also edited with AI tools, to make them appear slimmer.

Stanford officials said the use of AI violated university policy, and the school has removed the welcome banners.

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Billy Ramirez, a senior, was the student who was replaced in the photo. He said the original was taken during a Lunar New Year event at Wilbur Dining Hall during his freshman year. The unedited picture was previously used on the residential and dining experience website, he said.

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According to the university, Black students made up 8.9% of the class of 2027, the last cohort admitted before the Supreme Court ruling. The following year, Black student enrollment fell to 4.5%. Hispanic or Latino enrollment fell from 16.7% to 14.6% over the same period. Meanwhile, Asian enrollment rose from 28.8% to 33%, and white enrollment increased from 21.9% to 24.1%.

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