“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’s Residential & Dining Enterprises (R&DE) has come under fire after using artificial intelligence to digitally alter the race, sex, and appearance of students in promotional photos.
The Stanford Review, a student-run publication at the school, uncovered the original and edited versions of the images that were used. The photos showed a cafeteria of students holding food trays, but in the edited version, one male student had been digitally replaced with a black woman, and the two other students had their faces and appearances changed.
Billy Ramirez, a junior who appeared in the original photo, described his reaction to the outlet: “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.”
He said his initial reaction was amusement, but that feeling shifted once he understood the scope of the changes: “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,” Ramirez added.
Two additional students who appeared alongside Ramirez in the photo also saw their faces digitally altered. An Asian girl’s face was thinned out and a male student in the middle of the photo had his entire face changed to a different person with a different colored shirt.
R&DE is the division responsible for managing housing and dining services across Stanford’s campus. The photo had been taken in front of the “Star Ginger” cafe at the school location.