An ill-prepared commencement speaker at a Florida university faced a chorus of boos after extolling the virtues of the “AI revolution” to graduates in the field of media.
Gloria Caulfield, a real estate development executive, found herself in an awkward position when her speech, heavily focused on artificial intelligence, was met with strong disapproval from the audience.
“We are living in a time of profound change,” Caulfield began, acknowledging the complexity of the current era. “Change is exciting. And let’s face it: change can be daunting.”
She went on to describe the rise of artificial intelligence as the “next Industrial Revolution,” a sentiment that clearly did not sit well with the crowd of media and communications graduates who now face the challenge of entering a job market increasingly influenced by AI.
The crowd responded with loud boos, leaving Caulfield visibly surprised as she turned to face them.
“Oh! What happened?” she asked with a laugh, momentarily turning away from the audience. “Okay. I struck a chord. May I finish?” she continued, attempting to regain her footing.
‘Only a few years ago, AI was not a factor in our lives,’ Caulfield said, sparking cheers and fist-pumps from the AI-hating students.
University of Central Florida commencement speaker Gloria Caulfield has been loudly booed after she championed the ‘AI revolution’ to a room full of recent communications graduates
The real estate executive was caught off guard when her tone-deaf speech about artificial intelligence was loudly condemned by the crowd. She turned away in shock at one point
‘Okay,’ a surprised Caulfield responded, ‘I see we have a bipolar topic here.’
‘And now AI capabilities are in the palm of our hands,’ she added, prompting another round of raucous boos. ‘Oh, I love it,’ Caulfield responded. ‘Passion, let’s go.’
Caulfield compared the proliferation of AI in modern society to the Industrial Revolution during her own graduation era in the late 20th century.
‘These were some of the same trepidations and concerns we are now facing,’ she said.
‘But ultimately, it was a game changer for global economic development and the proliferation of new businesses that never existed like Apple, Google and Meta and so many others.
‘So being an optimist here, AI alongside human intelligence has the potential to help us solve some of humanity’s greatest problems.
‘Many of you in this graduating class will play a role in making this happen.’
AI is becoming an increasingly hot-button topic, as advances in the still relatively-new technology are seen by many as a threat to current ways of life.
Cabel Sasser, the co-founder of indie software company Panic Inc, shared footage of the speech on Bluesky alongside a scathing response
Caulfield, who is vice president of strategic alliances at Tavistock Development Company, was one of the six speakers at the University of Central Florida ( UFC ) commencement ceremony
The technology is creeping into grocery stores, offices and everything in between, and AI was the top reason for layoffs in America during the month of March.
Caulfield’s speech sparked a fierce backlash beyond the event, as criticism spilled out onto social media as the video of her address was shared online.
Cabel Sasser, the co-founder of indie software company Panic Inc, shared footage of the speech on Bluesky alongside a scathing response.
‘This graduation speech moment is notable, and her amazed shock at having failed to read the room feels instructive,’ he wrote.
‘When you’re inside the bubble, you think everybody else is. but everybody isn’t.’
