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Stanford University takes pride in being on the cutting edge of artificial intelligence, but the university has been facing unwanted scrutiny this week after a Stanford advertisement relied on AI to transform a man into a woman, in violation of its own policies.
The use of AI was first detected by the Stanford Review, a campus publication that discovered the change and reported on it on Sept. 21. In the two days since, the story has attracted nationwide scrutiny, going viral on social media and attracting coverage from the New York Times and San Francisco Chronicle, among other publications.
The Stanford Review found that the university had replaced the image of a Hispanic student, Billy Ramirez, with an image of a Black woman in a banner for the university’s dining service, Residential and Dining Enterprise. The other students who were with Ramirez in the photo also had their images altered by AI, which made them look thinner.
“At first, I found it hilarious that they had used AI to completely change our appearances, including my race and gender,” Ramirez told the Stanford Review. “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 confirmed that the advertisement violated its policy on AI use, which requires clear identification of “AI-generated or AI-manipulated content (e.g., images, audio, or video) when omission could mislead audiences about what is real.”
“Do not create or publish AI-generated content that falsely depicts Stanford people, events, research, facilities or achievements,” the policy states. “Make sure you comply with applicable law and platform policies regarding synthetic media.”
Charlene Gage, university spokesperson, said that the banners with the image in question have been removed.
“Stanford’s AI policy is clear: The use of AI in producing or altering images of Stanford people, events, research, facilities, or achievements is strictly prohibited,” she wrote in a response to this publication. “Both the alteration and lack of disclosure in this case violate that policy. We are working to provide additional training for all staff and ensure proper review of all materials.”
More than AI, this reflects an insanity about what constitutes proper racial representation, a circle that cannot be squared.
I hope the university also plans some training for the thinning of students in its “representation”. There was a lot that was problematic beyond that it violated the AI usage policy.