Steve Wozniak Tells Students They Have AI—Actual Intelligence

A noteworthy but perhaps not wholly unexpected trend has emerged at this year’s commencement ceremonies in the US: speakers being hit by a cacophony of boos whenever they mention artificial intelligence. At the University of Central Florida, real estate development executive Gloria Caulfield’s statement that AI was “the next industrial revolution” was resoundingly jeered. Former Google CEO Eric Schdmit experienced a similar situation when he urged graduates at the University of Arizona to shape the future of AI. Record executive Scott Borschetta was booed when he started speaking about AI in production to graduating students at Middle Tennessee State University, and in fact doubled down by saying, “It’s a tool, make it work for you.” And at Glendale Community College, college president Tiffany Hernandez apologized when an automated AI-powered system being used to announce students’ names failed. A commencement speaker who did not draw boos, but cheers, however, was Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, who delivered the commencement address at Grand Valley State University in Michigan earlier this month.