When the 'University of Technology' gets technology spectacularly wrong

The Sydney Harbour Bridge sporting what appears to be the Zimbabwe flag. The iconic Opera House floating on its own mysterious island. Boats sailing in impossible directions while one appears to be actively sinking. And somehow, the sun has decided to rise in the completely wrong spot.

This wasn't the set-up for a surreal art exhibition—it was the AI-generated image that the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) proudly displayed on their Study Abroad and Exchange webpage until social media users gleefully tore it apart.

A sharp-eyed Sydney social media user spotted the image and challenged others to find everything wrong with it. The response was swift and merciless, with hundreds of comments pointing out the glaring errors in what should have been a simple photograph of Australia's most recognisable harbour.

'Ah Opera House Island. One of Sydney's key tourist attractions,' one user joked, while another quipped: 'University of "Technology" Sydney' - the quotation marks doing all the heavy lifting.

Part of a growing epidemic

While there are plenty of success stories about AI improving productivity and streamlining operations, there are just as many tales of errors, mistakes, and hallucinations that have plagued organisations throughout 2024 and 2025.

UTS finds itself in increasingly crowded company. Google's AI Overviews feature gave web users outlandish suggestions like adding glue to pizza or eating small rocks in May, after the search giant added generated responses to the top of search results.

The problem was that AI systems can't tell the difference between a factually correct news story and a joke post on social media. Users raced to find the strangest responses AI Overviews could generate.

McDonald's called off their three-year AI drive-thru partnership with IBM in June 2024 after a slew of social media videos showed confused and frustrated customers trying to get the AI to understand their orders. One TikTok video featured two people repeatedly pleading with the AI to stop as it kept adding more Chicken McNuggets to their order, eventually reaching 260.

Even major newspapers haven't been immune. The Chicago Sun-Times and Philadelphia Inquirer took reputational hits when May 2025 editions featured a special section that included a summer reading list recommending books that don't exist.

The Chicago Sun-Times explained that the syndicated section was provided by King Features Syndicate, a unit of Hearst.

The rich irony

What makes UTS's blunder particularly stinging is the institution's identity. Ranked Australia's #1 young university, UTS offers globally recognised degrees, strong industry ties, and career-ready learning in the heart of Sydney. The university literally advertises that 'AI is changing the world as we know it' and offers Artificial Intelligence courses to help students get 'future-ready careers.'

Meanwhile, like universities across Australia, UTS maintains strict policies about students using AI inappropriately. Research shows that both students and teachers share concerns about the potential misuse of AI technologies, such as ChatGPT, in assignments, emphasising the need for guidelines and strategies to prevent academic misconduct.

This policy contradiction wasn't lost on social media users. 'And yet the university pings their students for using AI in their assignments,' one commenter noted, while another suggested: 'I really hope UTS don't offer any graphic design or arts courses... Could have been a good opportunity for them to have a student competition.'

Swimming in professional alternatives

Perhaps most baffling of all is that UTS chose to use a clearly flawed AI image when professional alternatives abound. Stock photo platforms like Getty Images, iStock, and Shutterstock offer thousands of high-quality, professional photographs of Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House, with Getty Images alone hosting over 5,300 authentic images of the iconic landmarks together.

These professional images capture 'The Sydney Opera House and the bridge are iconic landmarks in Australia' from every angle, in every lighting condition, and during every season—all properly positioned in their correct geographical locations.

The abundance of legitimate imagery makes the AI choice even more puzzling. As one social media user put it: 'There are so many excellent photos of Sydney Harbour widely available? Why bother using something that's this terrible!'.

The credibility cost

UTS is recognised as a popular choice among international students due to various reasons such as academic reputation, diverse student community, and exceptional faculty. But incidents like this can have lasting impacts on institutional trust.

The timing is particularly unfortunate given universities' already strained relationships with AI technology. From Semester 2, 2025, the University of Sydney has implemented policies where students are generally not permitted to use AI in secure tasks such as exams and tests, unless given express permission. Meanwhile, other institutions are grappling with how to integrate AI responsibly.

Learning from the mistakes of others

UTS acted swiftly once the error was discovered. The university confirmed in a statement that 'The use of an AI-generated stock image was an oversight, and it was replaced as soon as we became aware of the mistake.'

But the incident serves as a broader cautionary tale. AI incidents rose sharply in 2024, with 233 cases reported, showing how common AI issues are becoming. Cases involving deepfakes, misidentification, and chatbot harm show how AI gone wrong can affect people in personal and painful ways.

The lesson isn't that AI is inherently problematic, but that organisations need proper oversight and quality control. Launches based on untested artificial intelligence can harm brand trust. Don't deploy at scale without safeguards, especially if millions will see the results.

While UTS's AI misadventure provided entertainment for social media users, it also highlighted important questions about institutional decision-making in the AI era. The technology isn't going anywhere, but neither should basic quality control and common sense.

For universities particularly, there's an added responsibility to model good AI practices for students who are learning to navigate this new technological landscape themselves. Getting the basics right—like ensuring Sydney landmarks appear in their actual locations—seems like a reasonable starting point.

Read more: Apartment drama explodes after mysterious notes—Are you making this mistake with your neighbors?

Have you spotted any obvious AI fails in marketing or official communications lately? What do you think institutions need to do to maintain credibility while exploring new technologies?