Initiative

Refacing the Future

An industry-wide initiative to re-educate generative AI — starting with the simple prompt that couldn't produce a Black surfer.

Download the Guide → Join the Initiative

"Every time I did a prompt, I would get a white surfer with dark skin. The data just wasn't there."

— David Mesfin, VP Creative Director, INNOCEAN USA

While working on a documentary about Black surfers, David Mesfin discovered that AI image generators couldn't produce an authentic image of a Black surfer. Instead, the models generated white surfers with darkened skin — a visual artifact of biased training data.

That experience led to Refacing the Future — a collaboration between pocstock and INNOCEAN USA that rallied more than a dozen creative agencies to host photo shoots, capture overlooked communities, and feed culturally accurate imagery into AI training pipelines.

The initiative has produced over 100,000 pieces of original media, delivered to platforms including Google, Adobe, Microsoft, OpenAI, Canva, Amazon, and Shutterstock.

The Representation Gap

AI doesn't see the world as it is.

When generative AI is asked to depict professionals, it relies on biased training data — dramatically underrepresenting people of color in high-status roles while overrepresenting them in low-status ones.

Dentists — Asian Representation

22%

Reality

2.3%

AI Output

Asian Americans make up 22% of U.S. dentists. When AI generates an image of a dentist, an Asian person appears only 2.3% of the time.

Physicians — Black Representation

Reality

~0%

AI Output

Black Americans make up 5% of active physicians. AI image generators show a near-total absence of Black doctors — often depicting Black individuals exclusively as patients.

Physicians — Hispanic Representation

5.8%

Reality

<2%

AI Output

Hispanic physicians represent 5.8% of U.S. doctors, yet are virtually invisible in AI-generated medical imagery — erasing a significant portion of the healthcare workforce.

Facial Recognition — Error Rates

100×

Higher error rate

A NIST study found that Asian and Black people are up to 100 times more likely to be incorrectly identified by facial recognition algorithms compared to white men.

Cannes Lions 2025

Taking the stage at the world's biggest creative festival

In June 2025, pocstock and INNOCEAN USA brought Refacing the Future to Cannes Lions — the world's largest international festival of creativity — with a stage session on AI inclusivity and the marketing industry's role in combating data bias.

The panel featured INNOCEAN USA's CCO Jason Sperling and Creative Director David Mesfin alongside pocstock leadership, discussing the strategy behind producing 100,000+ pieces of culturally accurate media and delivering them to major AI platforms worldwide.

The session spotlighted how agencies, brands, and content creators can work together to ensure AI sees the world in all its diversity — not just the narrow slice reflected in existing training data.

Partners & Communities

Who's been captured so far.

INNOCEAN USA

Black Surfers

Great Day in the Stoke

Black Surfers

Sofly Surf School

Black Surfers

Aquatic Future Foundation

Black Surfers

TrueGent.Tv

Hispanic Skateboarders

Contrast Eye Films

Snowboarders

Native Like Water

Native Americans

Pedro On The World

Native Americans

ORCIO

Older Hispanic LGBTQ Community

Lopez Negrete

Hispanic Musicians

FCB Global

Community partner

David & Goliath

Community partner

INNOCEAN + POCSTOCK