By Ramarko Sengupta
Publication Date: 2026-05-18 04:31:00
There was a time when bringing up AI at a university graduation would probably earn applause, curiosity, maybe even excitement. Instead, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt was booed down heavily at the University of Arizona while delivering the commencement speech on Sunday, every time he brought up artificial intelligence.
This reaction may perhaps be one of the clearest signs yet of where the public mood around AI stands right now. Schmidt, while addressing graduates, spoke about the impact of modern technology, automation and AI on society. But students repeatedly interrupted with jeers and boos. Mobile phone videos of the incident are circulating online and on social media.
What makes the moment especially striking is who was doing the booing. These are students graduating into an AI-first world. A generation that grew up with ChatGPT, Instagram, TikTok…
