We need to work at being a more unified community. The reason I say this is because I personally have noticed an uptick in AI generated content on the campus Instagram page (@myrwu). I could preach about the environmental harm caused by generative AI, but my angle is more on the administration’s  not reaching out to designers and Photoshop users who can make a quick graphic for social media engagement.

On April 1, this account posted an image of the bay out by the Mount Hope Bridge featuring a large boat with the campus name labeled on it, the boat itself being very obviously an AI generated addition. The purpose of this was to make a weak April Fools joke, saying that we would be having classes on the water in the Fall 2026 semester.

Several comments call this post out for its usage of AI, and sadly this isn’t the first time. On Saint Patrick’s Day the account posted the Roger Williams Statue with AI generated additions such as a pot of gold and a Leprechaun hat on Roger’s head.

The Roger Williams University main website houses an Information Technology page with acknowledgements to AI and more importantly the ethical considerations behind it. The two key points that stand out are transparency and accountability. The poster should have included a statement disclosing the usage of AI, and also the model they had used at the bottom of the post’s description to maintain clarity with viewers. 

As for accountability, the context is not so much of a concern as it’s not inflicting on anyone’s education directly. Responsibility should still be taken for generation of the image, but that should have also been gone about differently. The marketing team could have shown responsibility by requesting for a submission from the graphic design sector.

For the future, I believe a much more safe and connecting way is to ask different communities at RWU for a chance to be represented and not stoop to a rushed AI post. The next time a funny campus photo and caption is planned for the Instagram page, reach out to students via email and have them throw something together in Photoshop if they want to show off their skills. We need to market the student body all the time, because this college should thrive off of everyone’s accomplishments and new opportunities.