By Naomi Kaplan
Publication Date: 2026-05-13 07:12:00
A guest speaker at a graduation ceremony in the US was criticized for giving a “out-of-touch” speech praising Jeff Bezos and artificial intelligence to a room full of humanities scholars.
Video footage from the University of Central Florida’s commencement ceremony went viral after the audience turned to the panelist and loudly booed him as he stood dumbfounded.
Gloria Caulfield, a senior real estate executive, was invited to give a speech to graduates of the College of Arts and Humanities, but when she started praising AI, things quickly went south.
While discussing technological advances, Ms. Caulfield noted that to say that society is now “living in a time of profound change” is “an understatement.”
“Change is exciting,” she told the crowd. “Very exciting. And let’s face it, change can be daunting.
“The rise of artificial intelligence is the next industrial revolution -” but before she could finish her sentence, a loud chorus of boos rang out…