Graduating students may ‘boo’ every mention of AI but still need timeless advice as jobs turn scarce
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.As boos rang out among the audience of University of Central Florida (UCF) graduates, commencement speaker Gloria Caulfield turned to the faculty staff behind her to ask what had happened. Then it dawned on her: She had mentioned artificial intelligence (AI).The real estate executive pressed on. “Only a few years ago,” she said, “AI was not a factor in our lives.” When that statement was greeted with loud cheers, Caulfield said: “We’ve got a bipolar topic here, I see.”For any commencement speaker in 2026, no conversation about the future could be credible without mentioning AI.
But in front of today’s graduates, striking the right tone is hard. They know the world of work they are entering has never been more uncertain, a landscape that will have changed drastically since they began the courses they have now completed successfully. Anxiety runs high.
The patience afforded to wealthy commencement speakers is being tested. “Back in my day” remarks are more frustrating than ever.The tense anti-AI sentiment hung in the air ahead of Marquette University’s graduation ceremony on Saturday. Its speaker, Adobe’s global head of AI and agentic systems, Chris Duffey, was announced months ago to a cacophony of criticism.
“This is so embarrassing and frustrating, makes me want to skip the graduation I’ve worked so hard to attend,” said one alumni, commenting on the announcement on Instagram. “A slap in the face to real authors, artists and writers,” another said.The college decided to press ahead. Kevin Conway, its communications director, told me they felt the choice of speaker reflected the institution’s Jesuit mission to help its graduates “be the next generation of ethical leaders that many
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