{"id":894858,"date":"2026-10-26T04:12:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-26T04:12:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/894858\/"},"modified":"2026-10-26T04:12:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T04:12:10","slug":"california-university-sparks-student-fury-after-posting-ai-image","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/894858\/","title":{"rendered":"California university sparks student fury after posting AI image"},"content":{"rendered":"

Stanford University has been embroiled in another AI image controversy<\/a> after it was forced to remove an image of an all-white, all-male marching band from its website following an outcry from students.<\/p>\n

The AI-generated picture, published on the prestigious US university\u2019s Campus Center construction website, showed a band dressed in red blazers, white shirts and fedoras performing on the campus\u2019 White Plaza.<\/p>\n

Members of the Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band told The Stanford Daily<\/a> they were shocked to find the AI-generated image on the university\u2019s website.<\/p>\n

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The Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band performs. Instagram\/@lsjumbofficial<\/p>\n

Drum major Jose Serrano called the decision \u201cpretty stupid.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re going to use AI, make an AI thing for your building, but don\u2019t put people on it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Band conductor and executive officer Sadie Taylor said the depiction was particularly frustrating, given the organization\u2019s efforts to attract a diverse membership.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe work pretty hard to champion diversity within the organization and try and encourage women and students of color to join,\u201d she said. \u201cSo to see the University sort of undo all of that, it\u2019s pretty frustrating.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taylor and fellow band leaders formally complained to the Campus Center team on Monday, pointing out that authentic photographs of the band were already available.<\/p>\n

The Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band performs. Instagram\/@lsjumbofficial<\/p>\n

\u201cWe welcome you to use one of those, instead of falsifying an all-white, all-male, AI slop version of the Band,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n

The university replaced the image with another architectural rendering shortly afterward.<\/p>\n

Taylor said the university had not informed the band before publishing the image, while Serrano questioned the use of AI to generate figures resembling real students<\/a> without their knowledge.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur likenesses are being put into this AI algorithm and spit out and spat out, which is just ridiculous. It\u2019s insane,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Stanford defended the image as an architectural visualization intended to illustrate Commons Great Room, part of the wider Campus Center redevelopment.<\/p>\n

Stanford defended the image as an architectural visualization intended to illustrate Commons Great Room. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Assistant Vice President of Communications Angie Davis said the figures were illustrative and were not intended to represent members of the marching band.<\/p>\n

\u201cAI-assisted imagery is standard industry practice for architectural visualization,\u201d Davis wrote in an email to The Stanford Daily.<\/p>\n

However, band members said the figures\u2019 clothing closely resembled their distinctive uniforms, with some claiming the generated figures looked like actual members.<\/p>\n

Stanford\u2019s AI guidelines prohibit generating \u201ccontent that depicts, impersonates, or closely resembles a real person.\u201d The university has not said the marching band image breached those guidelines.<\/p>\n

The latest controversy<\/a> follows a separate incident in September, when Stanford admitted it had breached its own AI policies by digitally altering a photograph used in promotional material.<\/p>\n

Stanford students pose for an original, pre-AI photograph. Instagram\/stanforddining<\/p>\n

An AI-generated photograph shows Stanford student Billy Ramirez replaced by an AI-generated woman. The Stanford Review<\/p>\n

Hispanic student Billy Ramirez was removed from a photograph taken at a Lunar New Year celebration in 2024 and replaced with an AI-generated black woman. Two other students in the image were digitally altered to appear thinner.<\/p>\n

The changes, first reported by student publication The Stanford Review, prompted the university to remove the promotional banners.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth the alteration and lack of disclosure in this case violate that policy,\u201d Stanford said in a statement, adding that it would provide additional training and strengthen reviews of promotional material.<\/p>\n

Ramirez described the experience as upsetting.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo see me erased like that so easily was kind of very upsetting,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Stanford\u2019s policy prohibits using AI to produce or alter images of university people, events, research, facilities or achievements.<\/p>\n

While the university acknowledged a policy breach in Ramirez\u2019s case, it defended the marching band image as an illustrative rendering rather than a depiction of identifiable people.<\/p>\n

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