{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-09-30T07:10:40.205Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"representation","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"","evidence":"","year":"2026","response":"","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":1,"coverage":{"cases":1,"countries":1,"languages":2,"unknownLocation":0,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":0,"lawsuits":0,"regulatory":0,"minors":0,"coreRelations":1,"contextualRelations":0,"mixedRelations":0,"unknownRelations":0,"relationPending":0,"relationUnknown":0},"countingNote":"Distinct public cases in this selection. People counts apply within individual cases only; cross-case person overlap has not been resolved. No population incidence estimate.","affectedCountNote":"Interpret person counts with affectedCountStatus and the reported effects. Unquantified zeros are placeholders, not a measured zero.","source":"AI incidents","publisher":"NOPE","url":"https://nope.net/incidents","license":"CC BY 4.0"},"incidents":[{"id":"2026-stanford-rde-ai-altered-promotional-photo-student-replaced","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"'Stanford Residential & Dining Enterprises recently used AI to change the races of the students it included in its advertisements. AI was also used to noticeably slim down and alter students’ faces.'; 'he noticed that he had been removed from the photo and replaced by a AI-generated black woman.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'Stanford confirmed that Residential and Dining Enterprises (R&DE) used generative AI to modify the appearance of several students in a promotional image. R&DE changed the students’ clothing into Stanford merchandise, slimmed down two students’ faces and entirely changed one student’s race, gender and appearance.'; 'The Daily confirmed that the photo was used in a custom banner in the Governor’s Corner student housing center, which has since been taken down.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'Stanford University said the use of artificial intelligence to alter the race and appearance of students in a promotional photo violated its policy'; 'We have apologized to the students in the photo whose images were altered or erased,'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"Stanford Residential & Dining Enterprises used generative AI to alter a promotional photograph of three students, replacing one male student with an AI-generated Black woman and making the two other students' faces appear slimmer, and the altered image was displayed on campus banners.","causal_attribution":"The Review's comparison of the original and altered images (one group) and the university's own statements confirming the AI alteration (second group); the itemised details are in c4."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'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,'; '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.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'Following the incident, the university removed the image and announced plans to provide additional staff training to prevent future violations.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'Not only the fact that the image was altered, but the ways in which it was altered, reflect a serious error in judgment. We have apologized to the students in the photo whose images were altered or erased,'; 'The university said it has launched an investigation to determine what happened and'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"The university said the alteration and its non-disclosure violated its policy prohibiting AI use in producing or altering images of Stanford people, removed the image, promised staff training and review of materials, called the alteration a serious error in judgment, apologised to the students and opened an investigation.","causal_attribution":"University statements to The Stanford Daily, NBC Bay Area and NBC News."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'At first, I found it hilarious that they had used AI to completely change our appearances, including my race and gender. But after looking at the comparison, I was also upset'; '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.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'He described the incident as “funny,” but also noted that he was exhausted by the current level of media attention he had received from outlets across the country.'; 'I’m so tired, I want it to stop,'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'To see me erased like that so easily was kind of very upsetting,'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"The replaced student said he first found the edit funny but was upset that the university changed his identity and left him out, describing feeling silenced and erased, and said he was exhausted by the national media attention and wanted it to stop.","causal_attribution":"The student's statements to the Review, the Daily and (via NBC News) The New York Times."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Stanford University removed a promotional photo that had been digitally altered to replace a male Hispanic student with an AI-generated Black female student without disclosure, violating university policy.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'R&DE changed the students’ clothing into Stanford merchandise, slimmed down two students’ faces and entirely changed one student’s race, gender and appearance.'; 'The Daily confirmed that the photo was used in a custom banner in the Governor’s Corner student housing center, which has since been taken down.'; 'Both the alteration and lack of disclosure in this case violate that policy.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The replaced student is Hispanic; the altered image changed the students' clothing into Stanford merchandise and was displayed without disclosure, including on a custom banner in the Governor's Corner student housing centre, since taken down.","causal_attribution":"NBC Bay Area's report and the Daily's own description and banner check; single chain for each detail."}],"effects":[{"label":"three students' images in a university promotional photograph were altered with AI without disclosure, one replaced by a generated person of another race and gender, leaving him feeling silenced and erased and exposed to national attention","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://stanfordreview.org/stanford-r-de-uses-ai-to-race-swap-students-for-advertising/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read live on 2026-09-25 (The Stanford Review, 21 September 2026; html lang=en). First report; publishes the pre- and post-AI images and the replaced student's statement.","independence_group":"stanford-review-reporting"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://stanforddaily.com/2026/09/23/university-confirms-ai-edited-photo/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en-US","translation_note":"Read live on 2026-09-25 (The Stanford Daily, published 23 September 2026, updated 24 September; html lang=en-US). University public-relations director's confirmation and the student's further statements.","independence_group":"stanford-university-statements"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/stanford-ai-photo-policy-violation/4147081/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en-US","translation_note":"Read live on 2026-09-25 (NBC Bay Area, 22 September 2026; html lang=en-US). Short report of the removal and planned training.","independence_group":"stanford-university-statements"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/stanford-apologizes-saying-ai-altered-pic-changed-students-gender-race-rcna599691","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read live on 2026-09-25 (NBC News, 24 September 2026; html lang=en). University apology and investigation; relays the Review's reporting and a New York Times quotation.","independence_group":"stanford-university-statements"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["institutional_use"],"contexts":["education","everyday_life"],"unknowns":["Which AI tool was used and who in the department made and approved the alteration.","When the altered banner was produced and displayed; according to the replaced student the original photograph was taken at a 2024 Lunar New Year dinner, and the banner came to attention in September 2026.","What the two slimmed students have said; their accounts (reported by the Daily as having spoken out) were not inspected.","The outcome of the university's investigation."],"geography":{"basis":"The photograph was taken in a Stanford dining hall and the altered banner displayed at the Governor's Corner student housing centre on the Stanford campus, California (The Stanford Daily, NBC News); the three are Stanford students. No court proceeding.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":["US"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as an institutional-use case in which an AI system altered how identifiable people were depicted: a university department replaced one student and reshaped two others in advertising without disclosure, confirmed by the university (which apologised and opened an investigation) and first reported by the student newspaper with the original and altered images; the replaced student's distress is his own account. Low severity: no financial or physical harm is reported. No student is named here.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-25"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"Stanford confirmed to The Stanford Daily that Residential and Dining Enterprises used generative AI to modify the students' appearance in the image, and said in a statement reported by NBC News that the use of AI to alter the students' race and appearance violated its policy; The Stanford Review published the original and altered images. The tool is not identified.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["depicted_or_impersonated"]},"name":"Stanford University: the Residential & Dining Enterprises department used generative AI to alter a promotional photograph of three students, replacing a Hispanic male student with an AI-generated Black woman, slimming two students' faces and changing their clothing, on campus banners; the university said the undisclosed alteration violated its AI policy, apologised and opened an investigation (Stanford Review, Stanford Daily, NBC Bay Area, NBC News, 21-24 September 2026)","summary":"The Stanford Review reported on 21 September 2026 that Stanford's Residential & Dining Enterprises (R&DE) had used AI to change the appearance of students in its advertising: a student was sent images comparing a banner with the original photograph, which he recalled a Stanford photographer taking, and found he had been removed and replaced by an AI-generated Black woman, while the two students beside him were made to appear visibly thinner. Stanford confirmed to The Stanford Daily on 23 September that R&DE used generative AI to modify the appearance of several students in the image; the Daily reported that the students' clothing was changed into Stanford merchandise, two students' faces were slimmed and one student's race, gender and appearance were entirely changed, and the university said the alteration and its non-disclosure violated its policy prohibiting AI in producing or altering images of Stanford people; the banner at the Governor's Corner housing centre was taken down and staff training promised. On 24 September NBC News reported the university's statement that the alteration was 'a serious error in judgment', that it had apologised to the students whose images were altered or erased, and that it had opened an investigation. The replaced student, who first found the edit funny, said that seeing his identity changed and being left out made him feel 'silenced and erased from a representation that was supposed to include me', that it was upsetting, and that he was exhausted by the national media attention. According to the student, the original photograph was taken at a 2024 Lunar New Year dinner in a campus dining hall and had been used unaltered in earlier promotional material.","incidentDate":"2026-09-01","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2026-09-21","aiSystem":"Generative AI image-editing tool used by Stanford Residential & Dining Enterprises to alter a promotional photograph (tool not identified)","aiProduct":"Unidentified image tool","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["psychological_distress","other_material_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"A student's image was removed from an institutional photograph and replaced with an AI-generated person of a different race and gender, and two other students' faces were slimmed and their clothing changed, all without disclosure, on campus advertising; the replaced student describes feeling silenced and erased and being exhausted by the resulting national attention, and the university says it has apologised to the students in the photograph whose images were altered or erased (The Stanford Review, The Stanford Daily, NBC News). No financial or physical harm is reported.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"established","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":3,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"Three students appear in the photograph (NBC News: an image of three students); one was replaced and two were slimmed and re-clothed (The Stanford Daily), and the university apologised to 'the students in the photo whose images were altered or erased' (NBC News). The replaced student describes distress; the two others' own accounts were not inspected (the Daily says they have spoken out). Exact 3 people whose images were altered without disclosure.","victimAgeRange":"unknown","jurisdiction":"US","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"internal_action","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://stanfordreview.org/stanford-r-de-uses-ai-to-race-swap-students-for-advertising/","primarySourceLabel":"The Stanford Review, 21 September 2026: Stanford R&DE Uses AI to Race Swap Students for Advertising","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-25T03:58:44.421252+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:17:54.864519+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["ai-image-editing","institutional-use","university","representation","stanford","california","united-states","depicted-or-impersonated","policy-violation"]}]}