The two remaining students whose appearances were edited using Artificial Intelligence (AI) by Stanford’s Residential & Dining Enterprises (R&DE) are speaking out following national media attention.

“The past few days have been overwhelming regarding the AI-altered picture, as we see several institutional failures from Stanford,” they wrote on Substack Wednesday night, identifying themselves as ‘The Other Two.’

The Daily verified that the two students who appear in the photo authored the post. The students requested that The Daily keep their names anonymous due to ongoing harassment.

Their comments come in the wake of a now-viral Fizz post by Billy Ramirez ’27, who revealed that R&DE artificially altered his appearance, race and gender with generative AI. The ‘Other Two’ were pictured alongside Ramirez, posing with plates of food in Wilbur Dining. In the AI-generated image, one student’s clothing was changed to Stanford apparel and both of their faces were altered.

A University spokesperson previously confirmed the claims in an email to The Daily, writing, “Stanford’s AI policy is clear: The use of AI in producing or altering images of Stanford people […] is strictly prohibited. Both the alteration and lack of disclosure in this case violate that policy.”

Despite attention from major news outlets — including The New York Times, Fox News, The New York Post and CNN — the other two students in the image have not made any public statements until now.

“Seeing the AI-altered picture at first was shocking, but we didn’t put much thought into it because we were preoccupied with our own lives and responsibilities,” they wrote.

However, they said the sudden explosion of attention became too overwhelming to ignore: “We felt embarrassed with how our ethnic facial features got altered and the comments we saw online.”

The pair have since filed a Title VI report for discrimination and have been in communication with Jay Hamilton, vice provost for undergraduate education, but have not yet heard from President Jonathan Levin.

The students’ statement also made several demands of the University and administration, including a public apology and a promise not to create AI-generated images of students.

“We demand that the university conduct a transparent and thorough investigation regarding the image’s creation,” they wrote.

The pair expressed hope that the University would maintain “transparen[cy] with the student body about how they plan to adjust their institutional policies to ensure every student feels a sense of belonging.”

They took the incident as a moment to call on Stanford to reinstate cutbacks to DEI initiatives, and criticized the sharp drop in Latino and Black enrollment in the classes of 2028 and 2029.  

“The fact that the picture generated one of our peers into a Black woman to showcase ‘diversity,’ despite enrolling the lowest Black student population in the past recent years has shown that universities have not shown enough institutional support for their Black community and see them as a tool for their marketing,” they wrote, echoing statements that Ramirez previously made to The Daily.

They also cited a decrease in support for cultural community centers and ethnic theme dorms as antithetical to the message they received upon admission: “A Place for You Here.”

“Students from these communities are already fighting constantly to preserve their identities and make space in an institution that wasn’t originally made with them in mind,” they wrote. “When the University engaged in this behavior, it felt as if they had moved the ‘finish line’ even farther out of reach.”

‘The Other Two’ concluded their letter with a “call to action for students to challenge the university on its recent cuts to DEI initiatives and the communities it has affected.”

“Now that the band-aid has been removed, it’s time to examine the deeper cuts and issues at hand,” they wrote.