The Associated Press reported that artificial intelligence, long a subject of excitement in technology circles, has become an unwelcome topic at college commencement ceremonies this spring. Graduates at multiple campuses have interrupted speakers with stadium-wide booing when the subject turned to AI, voicing frustration and fear about how the technology will affect their careers.
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt encountered the strongest reaction over the weekend during his address to approximately 10,000 University of Arizona graduates. As Schmidt told the audience that AI would “touch every profession, every classroom, every hospital, every laboratory, every person and every relationship you have,” booing began to build. The noise continued as Schmidt responded directly to the crowd.
“I know what many of you are feeling about that. I can hear you,” Schmidt said. “There is a fear in your generation that the future has already been written, that the machines are coming, that the jobs are evaporating … and I understand that fear.”
Schmidt’s remarks and the graduates’ reaction capture a tension that has been building throughout the academic year. Surveys and admissions data have shown students increasingly tailoring their course selections and majors toward fields they perceive as resistant to AI displacement. The visible demonstrations at commencements represent the latest public expression of that anxiety.