When generative AI platforms failed to produce an image of a Black surfer, it exposed a deeper problem — the training data these systems learn from doesn't adequately represent people of color. Refacing the Future was born from that failure.
In partnership with INNOCEAN USA, pocstock launched an industry-wide initiative to create original, culturally authentic imagery and deliver it directly to the companies building AI — starting with Black surfers and expanding to communities worldwide.
Generative AI models are only as representative as the data they're trained on. When the training data skews toward majority populations, the output reflects that bias — erasing communities, reinforcing stereotypes, and producing imagery that doesn't reflect the real world.
pocstock mobilized its global creator network to produce original photo and video content featuring underrepresented communities in authentic contexts. Every asset was rights-cleared, culturally annotated, and formatted for AI training pipelines. Then we delivered it directly to the platforms that needed it most — for free.
The Refacing the Future initiative has delivered over 100,000 pieces of original media to Google, Adobe, Microsoft, and OpenAI for direct use in AI training. The project has been featured in Adweek, Ad Age, Forbes, and presented at Cannes Lions — and continues to expand to new communities and platforms.