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When talking about AI, read the room
Over the weekend, I attended my niece's graduation at University of California at Berkeley. I didn't look at the commencement speaker beforehand, so I was surprised to hear that the guest speaker was Dr. Alex Hanna, a sociologist and director of research at the Distributed AI Research Institute. The good professor came to the dais amid a round of cheers and applause.
At the outset, Dr. Hanna was quick to mention that it was nice to hear no one "boo" her at the mere mention of AI, which has happened elsewhere at other graduation ceremonies around the country..
"Last December, Time Magazine selected its 'Person of the Year' for 2025, and this time it was the architects of artificial intelligence," said Eric Schmidt, the former Google CEO, to a round of booing from the graduating class at the University of Arizona. The boos came in waves as Schmidt continued to talk about AI in the context of technological revolutions.
Real estate executive Gloria Caulfield faced the same fate while addressing the University of Florida earlier in the month. "The rise of artificial intelligence is the next industrial revolution," said Caulfield, which members of the graduating class boo'ed immediately, as reported by The Wall Street Journal:
"What happened?" Caulfield stammered, looking over her shoulder, as if searching for an escape hatch. "OK, I struck a chord! May I finish? Only a few years ago, A.I. was not a factor in our lives."
The same went for music executive Scott Borchetta, whose speech on AI at Middle Tennessee State University immediately elicited boos.
Comedians have a saying: "read the room" -- that is, assess how your jokes might be received by your audience before you deliver them -- and pivot, or else you'll bomb. Maybe Hanna already knew that talking about AI to an audience of recent graduates heading into the AI-laden workforce would not go over well. Instead, Hanna's speech leaned into the idea of overreliance on AI and chatbots in the learning process (basically a summarized version of some of the concepts in her book, "The AI Con," which is worth reading). Her message might be getting through to them, if recent surveys from Gallup offer any indications.
Is our AI future secure in the hands of the current and future graduates? Tell us your thoughts.
-Michael
At the outset, Dr. Hanna was quick to mention that it was nice to hear no one "boo" her at the mere mention of AI, which has happened elsewhere at other graduation ceremonies around the country..
"Last December, Time Magazine selected its 'Person of the Year' for 2025, and this time it was the architects of artificial intelligence," said Eric Schmidt, the former Google CEO, to a round of booing from the graduating class at the University of Arizona. The boos came in waves as Schmidt continued to talk about AI in the context of technological revolutions.
Real estate executive Gloria Caulfield faced the same fate while addressing the University of Florida earlier in the month. "The rise of artificial intelligence is the next industrial revolution," said Caulfield, which members of the graduating class boo'ed immediately, as reported by The Wall Street Journal:
"What happened?" Caulfield stammered, looking over her shoulder, as if searching for an escape hatch. "OK, I struck a chord! May I finish? Only a few years ago, A.I. was not a factor in our lives."
The same went for music executive Scott Borchetta, whose speech on AI at Middle Tennessee State University immediately elicited boos.
Comedians have a saying: "read the room" -- that is, assess how your jokes might be received by your audience before you deliver them -- and pivot, or else you'll bomb. Maybe Hanna already knew that talking about AI to an audience of recent graduates heading into the AI-laden workforce would not go over well. Instead, Hanna's speech leaned into the idea of overreliance on AI and chatbots in the learning process (basically a summarized version of some of the concepts in her book, "The AI Con," which is worth reading). Her message might be getting through to them, if recent surveys from Gallup offer any indications.
Is our AI future secure in the hands of the current and future graduates? Tell us your thoughts.
-Michael
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