Criticisms like “AI slop” were plentiful among negative comments under a video Hofstra University posted to unveil the new athletics department logo. 

The video, shared on June 9 by the university’s HofstraU and HofstraPride Instagram accounts, depicted a pride of lions running through a football stadium, roaring, gnawing at a rival university’s jersey and ultimately morphing into the new logo. Student backlash surrounded the clear use of artificial intelligence (AI) to generate the video.

Comments under the post shamed the use of generative AI and expressed frustration that the university did not utilize the talents of the student body. Some commenters pointed out several courses within the Department of Radio, Television, Film that teach animation. 

“You have so many talented students and alumni who would have made something exceptional and instead you turned to AI? Extremely disappointed in y’all,” wrote Hofstra alum Lucy Botelho (@_lucy_botelho_). 

Others, such as Michelle Geller (@oh.well.michelle), labeled the video as “tone deaf” and argued a “double standard of a university embracing this embarrassing Al abomination when their own students are required to sign anti-Al pledges.” 

Paris Martinovich, who graduated from Hofstra in 2024 with a degree in criminology, said that the video sends a grim message that the university is devaluing the work of current students and alumni alike.

“This message makes the students feel like their school is not interested in investing in them,” Martinovich said. “Regardless of the video eventually disappearing in their post feed, people will continue to remember that feeling.” 

At Hofstra, regulating the use of AI in the classroom is at the discretion of each professor. Professors can choose to permit the use of AI with acknowledgement, with both acknowledgement and permission or ban AI outright. 

Hofstra’s Academic Honor Code warns students that “misuse of AI/ChatGPT may be considered an Honor Code Violation” and could be subject to marks on a student’s record, suspension or expulsion from the university. 

Releasing a statement through Instagram on June 16, Hofstra’s Student Government Association (SGA) observed that while the video was intended to “capture the essence of the Pride,” the use of AI instead left many students feeling “wounded and misrepresented.” They further argued that “the use of artificial intelligence undercuts the key liberal arts principles that are foundational to what Hofstra stands for,” and called on the university to take down the video. 

The wave of criticism also culminated in the creation of an online petition, demanding that Hofstra take down the video, apologize for its use of generative AI and denounce any future use of the software. The petition, started by rising senior and music education major Oscar Munguia, asserts that the use of AI in the promotional video “undermines the works of over 100,000 graduates and many current students who attend the university.” As of July 18, the petition has amassed 434 online signatures. 

Despite the ongoing backlash, the video has remained up on social media. In a statement to The Hofstra Chronicle, the university distinguished the use of AI in marketing from its use in academic environments and stated that “the university’s use of AI in a professional marketing context adhered to professional standards, where AI was used to complement a production, not substitute human creativity.” 

With requests for Hofstra to take down the video going unanswered, invested students continue to feel disregarded. 

“Attempting to sweep this under the rug is not only frustrating, but extremely disrespectful to the students and alumni asking for answers and acknowledgment of the situation,” Martinovich said. “I hope that this presents them the opportunity to take accountability and move forward the right way.”