College commencement speeches are designed to inspire optimism in young graduates before they step out into the real world. This year, however, these speeches highlighted the growing burden on young people in the age of AI adoption.
At the University of Central Florida, graduates booed their commencement speaker after she compared the AI boom to the “the next Industrial Revolution.” Former chief executive of Google, Eric Schmidt received boos from the crowd at the University of Arizona when he suggested that AI is going to “touch everything.”
It would be hard to miss the message that graduates are sending.
AI has already replaced 128,218 jobs in the U.S. As that number only continues to increase, young Americans are not irrational for voicing their worry while looking for work. Technology experts predict that AI will continue to chip away at the job market,and entry-level jobs are some of the most at risk of being put on the chopping block.
For recent graduates, that fear is deeply personal. They have prepped for specific careers throughout their collegiate years. Now, they are facing a situation in which the rules of the workforce have been fundamentally rewritten.
As Big Tech pursues AGI, the outlook for workers is bleak. Beyond the tech hubs, working Americans are questioning the future of economic stability and mobility in an automated economy and where they fit in.
A growing lack of trust in policymakers’ ability to address this issue is only amplifying that concern.
This skepticism bridges the political divide, as both sides of the aisle worry that AI benefits will flow upward while ordinary laborers absorb the consequences of displacement and corporate consolidation.
The boos from the crowds at commencement ceremonies across the nation did not come from a mere moment of frustration.They represent the fear Americans are feeling as the nation undergoes a major technological revolution – all without the necessary safeguards to protect workers and economic mobility. AI is coming for our labor force. The only question that remains is what our leaders will do about it.