Students booed former Google CEO's speech praising AI
Graduates from several American universities have booed speeches by guests who have praised the future of artificial intelligence, including former Google CEO Eric Schmidt.
Graduates from several American universities have booed speeches by guests who have praised the future of artificial intelligence, including former Google CEO Eric Schmidt.
As reported by the BBC, during a speech at the University of Arizona, Schmidt spoke about the impact of technology on young people. His optimistic view of AI caused particular outrage among the audience. The former CEO of Google told the graduates: “Now you can assemble a team of AI agents that will help you with things that you could never achieve on your own,” and compared it to “a seat on a rocket.” Schmidt also added that these students will have to “shape artificial intelligence,” because “AI will touch everything.”
At one point, Schmidt had to stop because of shouts from the crowd. “I know how many of you feel about this. I hear you. There is fear,” he said, calling the students’ concerns about their future “rational.” Despite this, he continued to insist that AI “will shape the world” and that young people should lead the way.
A similar situation has occurred at other educational institutions. Gloria Caulfield, the vice president of a major real estate development company, called AI “the next industrial revolution” during a speech at the University of Central Florida, for which she also received a portion of loud reprimands from students. And Scott Borchetta, the music director at Middle Tennessee State University, declared that AI is “rewriting manufacturing right now,” and responded to the audience’s discontent with a succinct response: “Just accept it.”
Despite the stereotype of lazy youth looking for easy ways, buzzers are voicing some of the loudest and most detailed objections to generative AI. New Gallup data shows that just 18% of Gen Zers say they feel hopeful about the technology, down from 27% last year. The share of those who believe the risks of AI outweigh the benefits has risen 11 points in a year, to nearly 50%.
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