US university graduates boo speakers who mention AI positively

At several US universities, graduation speakers who praised artificial intelligence were met with boos and protests from students. Incidents occurred at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the University of Central Florida, the University of Arizona, and Middle Tennessee State University. Real estate executive Gloria Caulfield was booed at UCF after calling AI "the next industrial revolution" and later applauded when she noted a time before AI. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt faced protests at the University of Arizona when discussing AI's impact on every profession. Scott Borchetta of Big Machine Records told booing students at Middle Tennessee State to "get over it," calling AI a tool. The backlash reflects growing student concerns that AI will make their skills obsolete, as surveys show. Broader public opposition includes protests against data center construction, with at least 48 projects blocked. Journalist Brian Merchant links the protests to a generational and economic divide between AI beneficiaries and those harmed by it.