Stanford University Uses AI to Alter Student Photo, Causing Identity Erasure

What happened

Stanford University used AI to alter a promotional photo, replacing a Hispanic male student with an AI-generated Black female student and modifying others' appearances. This violated university policy and led to feelings of erasure and misrepresentation among affected students, sparking public backlash and prompting Stanford to promise staff training and policy enforcement.

Reported impact

Affected parties

Not publicly disclosed

Harm type

Not publicly disclosed

Scale

Not publicly disclosed

Financial impact

Not publicly disclosed

Regulatory action

Not publicly disclosed

Classification

Organization

Not publicly disclosed

AI system

Not publicly disclosed

Industry

Not publicly disclosed

Country

Not publicly disclosed

Provider

Not publicly disclosed

Incident type

Not publicly disclosed

Relevant governance controls

Governance control mapping is not available for this record.

• No controls mappedNot publicly disclosed

Control mapping is analytical. It does not state that any control would have prevented the incident.

Sources and evidence