Stanford Pulls Banners Featuring Student with AI-Edited Ethnicity, Gender
The Spin
Right narrative
Stanford has put its hands up to a serious fabrication. Billy Ramirez said he felt silenced and erased, while two other students were digitally slimmed down in an appalling non-consensual application of extreme body standards. Stanford's own rules ban synthetic media of real people without their agreement. The changing of the ethnicity and gender of a student to a less represented minority at the institution betrays an ideological impetus behind Stanford's advertising, one that is further reflected in unconstitutional admissions and a politicized syllabus.
Left narrative
This was undoubtedly an erroneous use of AI, but it should not distract or detract from wider discussions concerning educational standards or DEI at the school. Stanford is continuing to battle active political meddling in its admissions and teaching processes, fighting for equal educational opportunities and progression in the academic agenda. A mistake like this is upsettingly low-hanging fruit for the right-wing to critique the school, but should not be allowed to dominate the narrative.