Gloria Caulfield’s commencement speech was briefly interrupted by boos when she declared that artificial intelligence “is the next industrial revolution.”
Florida, USA – Commencement speaker at a university in Florida University The graduation ceremony was met with boos from graduates when she made remarks about artificial intelligence being “the next industrial revolution.”
Gloria Caulfield, Vice President, Strategic Alliances Tavistock Development Corporationwas one of many speakers at the University of Central Florida’s commencement ceremony last weekend. Her speech was interrupted when graduates booed her.
“We live in a time of profound change. That’s an understatement, right?” she said in her speech. “The rise of artificial intelligence is the next industrial revolution.”
The students began to boo, shocking the speaker. One student can be heard yelling “AI sucks.”
“What happened? Well, it resonated with me,” she said after turning to other speakers on the stage, including school principals.
After getting the students’ permission, she continued speaking, and the students fell silent again.
Caulfield continued, and the graduates were shocked again.
“Just a few years ago, artificial intelligence was not a factor in our lives,” she said, to cheers from the students. “Okay. Okay. I get it, we have a bipolar topic here.”
The rest of her speech was met with boos – which she called “passion” – and hushed conversations.
She gave a speech to graduates of the Central Florida College of Arts and Humanities, spending about three minutes of her 11-minute speech praising the future of artificial intelligence.
Made up of graduates pursuing careers in art, writing and design, they were not satisfied with the presentation. Houda Eletr from the Nicholson School of Communication and Media told orlando weekly The speech felt like an ad.
“To stand in front of graduating artists and communicators and discuss Jeff Bezos and Howard Schultz is to spit on our efforts to flip the script,” Ellett said. “I’m embarrassed to have had to endure the most awkward, unskippable, tone-deaf, ad-like beginning. Boo to the AI, boo to your agenda.”
The rest of the ceremony went as planned, allowing graduates to walk on stage, take photos, move their tassels and celebrate their achievements.
Caulfield and the university have yet to publicly comment on the booing.
