Skip to Content
logologo
AI Incident Database
Donate
Discover
Submit
  • Welcome to the AIID
  • Table View
  • List view
  • Entities
  • Taxonomies
  • Spatial View
  • Blog
  • AI News Digest
  • Random Incident
  • Sign Up
Discover
Submit
  • Welcome to the AIID
  • Table View
  • List view
  • Entities
  • Taxonomies
  • Spatial View
  • Blog
  • AI News Digest
  • Random Incident
  • Sign Up

Incident 1708: Stanford University Acknowledged Using AI to Alter Student Photo for Campus Banners, Replacing Hispanic Student With Black Woman

Description: Stanford University acknowledged using AI to alter a 2024 student photograph for campus banners in September 2026. The altered image replaced Hispanic student Billy Ramirez with a Black woman and made two other students appear thinner. Ramirez said being "erased" was upsetting and frustrating. Stanford said the alteration and lack of disclosure violated its AI policy and later said it was removing the banners.

Tools

New ReportNew ResponseDiscoverView History

Entities

View all entities
Alleged: Synthetic image generation technology developers and Synthetic media generation technology developers developed an AI system deployed by Stanford University , Universities , Educational communities , Synthetic media creators and Stanford Residential & Dining Enterprises, which harmed Educational communities , Billy Ramirez , University students , Students , Two unnamed Stanford University students whose appearances were altered , Epistemic integrity and Privacy.
Alleged implicated AI systems: Synthetic image generation technology and Synthetic media generation technology

Incident Stats

Incident ID
1708
Report Count
4
Incident Date
2026-09-21
Editors
Daniel Atherton

Incident Reports

Reports Timeline

+1
Stanford R&DE Uses AI to Race Swap Students for Advertising
+1
Stanford Used A.I. to Swap Black Student for Hispanic Student in a Photo
University confirms use of AI-edited photo amid controversy
Loading...
Stanford R&DE Uses AI to Race Swap Students for Advertising

Stanford R&DE Uses AI to Race Swap Students for Advertising

stanfordreview.org

Loading...
Stanford Used A.I. to Swap Black Student for Hispanic Student in a Photo

Stanford Used A.I. to Swap Black Student for Hispanic Student in a Photo

nytimes.com

Loading...
Stanford violated its AI policy by turning a Hispanic student into a fake Black woman in ad

Stanford violated its AI policy by turning a Hispanic student into a fake Black woman in ad

sfchronicle.com

Loading...
University confirms use of AI-edited photo amid controversy

University confirms use of AI-edited photo amid controversy

stanforddaily.com

Loading...
Stanford R&DE Uses AI to Race Swap Students for Advertising
stanfordreview.org · 2026

Stanford Residential & Dining Enterprises recently used AI to change the races of the students it included in its advertisements. AI was also used to noticeably slim down and alter students' faces.

On his journey to campus, Stanford student…

Loading...
Stanford Used A.I. to Swap Black Student for Hispanic Student in a Photo
nytimes.com · 2026

Billy Ramirez had collected a plate of noodles at a Lunar New Year party in 2024 when a Stanford University photographer snapped a picture of him alongside two other students.

The university's dining service posted the photo online the next…

Loading...
Stanford violated its AI policy by turning a Hispanic student into a fake Black woman in ad
sfchronicle.com · 2026

Stanford University created one of the world's first artificial intelligence labs in 1965. Six decades later, the school is facing criticism for using generative AI to change the photo of a Hispanic male student into a nonexistent Black wom…

Loading...
University confirms use of AI-edited photo amid controversy
stanforddaily.com · 2026

Stanford confirmed that Residential and Dining Enterprises (R&DE) used generative AI to modify the appearance of several students in a promotional image. R&DE changed the students' clothing into Stanford merchandise, slimmed down two studen…

Variants

A "variant" is an AI incident similar to a known case—it has the same causes, harms, and AI system. Instead of listing it separately, we group it under the first reported incident. Unlike other incidents, variants do not need to have been reported outside the AIID. Learn more from the research paper.
Seen something similar?

Similar Incidents

By textual similarity

Did our AI mess up? Flag the unrelated incidents

Loading...
Security Robot Rolls Over Child in Mall

Security Robot Rolls Over Child in Mall

Jul 2016 · 27 reports
Loading...
Uber AV Killed Pedestrian in Arizona

Uber AV Killed Pedestrian in Arizona

Mar 2018 · 25 reports
Loading...
Picture of Woman on Side of Bus Shamed for Jaywalking

Picture of Woman on Side of Bus Shamed for Jaywalking

Nov 2018 · 24 reports
Previous IncidentNext Incident

Similar Incidents

By textual similarity

Did our AI mess up? Flag the unrelated incidents

Loading...
Security Robot Rolls Over Child in Mall

Security Robot Rolls Over Child in Mall

Jul 2016 · 27 reports
Loading...
Uber AV Killed Pedestrian in Arizona

Uber AV Killed Pedestrian in Arizona

Mar 2018 · 25 reports
Loading...
Picture of Woman on Side of Bus Shamed for Jaywalking

Picture of Woman on Side of Bus Shamed for Jaywalking

Nov 2018 · 24 reports

Research

  • Defining an “AI Incident”
  • Defining an “AI Incident Response”
  • Database Roadmap
  • Related Work
  • Download Complete Database

Project and Community

  • About
  • Contact and Follow
  • Apps and Summaries
  • Editor’s Guide

Incidents

  • All Incidents in List Form
  • Flagged Incidents
  • Submission Queue
  • Classifications View
  • Taxonomies

2026 - AI Incident Database

  • Terms of use
  • Privacy Policy
  • dd3f754