Absolutely Not: UCF commencement speaker gets booed while praising AI
College students in the audience were from the arts and humanities where they feel that AI is taking jobs away from them.
www.cbsnews.comHere’s what’s circulating about UCF’s commencement booing incident.
Direct answer
- Yes. A University of Central Florida commencement ceremony drew boos from graduates after the speaker, Gloria Caulfield, described artificial intelligence as “the next industrial revolution” and suggested AI was previously not a factor in daily life. Multiple outlets reported the reaction and subsequent discussions about AI’s impact on jobs.
Context and key details
- Event and speaker: The boos occurred at a May 8 ceremony for the College of Arts and Humanities and the Nicholson School of Communication and Media, featuring Gloria Caulfield, a business executive connected to Tavistock and the Lake Nona Institute. This detail is echoed across regional and national coverage.[1][5][7]
- Audience response: Video and reporting describe graduates reacting with audible boos and expressions of concern about AI and job displacement, particularly among arts and humanities graduates.[4][7][1]
- Aftermath and reaction: Coverage notes that Caulfield acknowledged the mixed reaction during the speech and later commented on social media, framing the moment as an expression of passion and empowerment for future leaders.[1][4]
What this means
- The incident reflects broader anxieties about AI’s impact on the workforce, especially among newer graduates entering fields where automation is perceived as a threat. Several outlets tie the reaction to concerns about job security in creative and communications sectors.[5][4]
If you’d like, I can pull a concise timeline of what happened at the ceremony, plus quotes from the speaker and graduates, with citations to the sources. I can also summarize how different outlets framed the incident (local vs national) and note any follow-up statements from UCF or Caulfield.