Universities push their 'diverse and inclusive' campuses in advertisements and brochures. It’s one thing for a university to fake diversity when it doesn’t exist. But Stanford University in California had genuine diversity in a photo, but it wasn’t good enough. They took a racially diverse photo of three students and radically altered the photo with AI to tweak its diversity with race-swapping and more. The school’s own student newspaper, The Stanford Review, broke the story.
Check out the differences between the real photo and the altered one. (READ)
JUST IN: Stanford University is accused of using AI to change students’ race & gender while making others appear thinner in advertising, with one student saying he felt “silenced & erased.” pic.twitter.com/ziQe70PTek
— Polymarket (@Polymarket) September 21, 2026
Stanford busted using AI to race swap white male student for black female in ad: 'Silenced and erased' https://t.co/qZMddVpNMP pic.twitter.com/8vR8JRjb3s
— New York Post (@nypost) September 22, 2026
That’s wild.
Stanford claims it wants to promote racial diversity but had no problem erasing a Hispanic student… in the name of diversity? It probably pushes body positivity but apparently used an Ozempic filter to slim down the Asian female in the pic.
If you see a difference YOU’RE the racist one. As for me… I don’t see color, gender, sexual orientation, or light for that matter 👨🏾🦯🧑🏼🦯🧑🏻🦯👨🏿🦯👨🏽🦯 pic.twitter.com/yqIYqVSvjR
— Starrking ☠︎ (@Starrking) September 22, 2026
Being Hispanic doesn’t do it for Stanford I guess
— Gingerine (@Gingerine5) September 22, 2026
— 𝗠3MPH1S-B3113 (@M3mph1sB) September 22, 2026
They made the Asian skinnier and turned the Latino into a black woman. Looks like they airbrushed the white guy. Why?
— Ockham (@OckhamUSA) September 21, 2026
So Stanford couldn’t find enough real diversity on a campus of 17,000, so they just Photoshopped some in. Peak elite institution.
— 🦋匕工êれ 丹れムモㄥ🦋 (@TKS8798) September 21, 2026
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The real world just wasn’t good enough.
The male on the far right of the photo spoke about how it felt to be erased out of existence. (WATCH)
— Chris Musselman (@TakeRightTurn) September 22, 2026
The student spoke to the Review stating, "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."
— The Stanford Review (@StanfordReview) September 21, 2026
Left out due to the color of his skin.
— player (@AvgDegenPlayer) September 22, 2026
That’s racist discrimination.
— Cal Zone (@realCalZone) September 22, 2026
That’s heavy!
Commenters say this isn’t the first time a school has used technology to spruce up a pic’s racial diversity.
This is literally an Onion article https://t.co/6fZu80a8mf
— Nick Longrich (@NickLongrich) September 21, 2026
This is funnier if you realize that the Onion article is based on a real racial photoshopping event that happened at the University of Wisconsin. The Onion was founded in Madison, and was directly making fun of this event. pic.twitter.com/TvDOzw0qmt
— Neptune (@Neptune_1846) September 21, 2026
‘This photo needs a little added color!’
Posters tried to outdo Stanford’s swap.
if you want to use AI to change everything, at least give it 100%
— gosuprime (@gosuprime022) September 21, 2026
thin? race swap? why not anime? why not movie stars? pic.twitter.com/V8Mz3q2Iu7
You mustn't be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling. pic.twitter.com/As0SIaYkZg
— Fluffy Cow Respector (@FCRGame) September 22, 2026
— thirdeyefry (@3rdeyefry) September 22, 2026
— Evan Kirstel #B2B #TechFluencer (@EvanKirstel) September 22, 2026
Stanford AI swap: basic economics edition
— Beat Woke (@BeatWoke) September 22, 2026
featuring Milton Friedman, Peter Robinson, and Thomas Sowell pic.twitter.com/19r6gJ4idn
Are those guys even allowed on college campuses anymore?
Sharp-eyed commenters say even the food on the students’ plates wasn’t diverse enough.
“Noodles in shambles after finding out they were replaced with rice.” pic.twitter.com/m8co71U11s
— Budget Hands (@BudgetHands) September 22, 2026
😂 Noodles writing angry emails and talking to attorneys all over California right now
— Shannon3095 (@shannon3095) September 22, 2026
But the menu said ‘No substitutions!’