Videos of Florida college students booing a commencement speaker are going viral. But what exactly did the speaker say?
Real estate development executive Gloria Caulfield faced backlash from University of Central Florida graduates after praising artificial intelligence during a May 8 ceremony.
As seen in the ceremony’s livestream, Caulfield spoke about interacting with “some of the most prolific leaders and innovators of our time,” such as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Olympic medalist Lindsey Vonn. She touched on how these figures have embraced innovation without “fear of being disruptive.”
“We are living in a time of profound change. That’s an understatement, right? Change is exciting. And let’s face it: change can be daunting,” Caulfield said, before adding, “The rise of artificial intelligence is the next Industrial Revolution.”
The audience, which included graduates of the College of Arts and Humanities and the Nicholson School of Communication and Media, began booing Caulfield following her comment about AI. She was visibly caught off guard and asked those behind her, “What happened?”
Returning to the audience, Caulfield said, “Okay. I struck a chord. May I finish?” She then said, “Only a few years ago, AI was not a factor in our lives,” which prompted the audience to cheer.
“Okay, I see we have a bipolar topic here,” she added, before continuing her speech.
Watch video of UCF students booing a commencement speaker
See graduates boo speaker over AI praise
UCF graduates boo a commencement speaker after comments calling artificial intelligence the next industrial revolution at a May 8 ceremony.
Where is the University of Central Florida?
The University of Central Florida is located in Orlando, Florida at 4000 Central Florida Boulevard.
Who was the UCF commencement speaker?
Gloria Caulfield, vice president of strategic alliances at Tavistock Development Company, was one of the speakers at the University of Central Florida’s commencement ceremonies.
What did viewers think of UCF commencement speech?
As of May 12, the 3-hour livestream of the UCF graduation ceremony has turned off its comments and has nearly 30,000 views.
However, clips of the speech have racked up hundreds of thousands of views on social media and several comments on the state of artificial intelligence in our society.
“(Caulfield) builds AI medtech partnerships for Tavistock’s Lake Nona development project,” one user on X wrote. “She told a room full of Humanities students at UCF that AI was “the next industrial revolution” when their job prospects have been actively harmed by AI.”
“Shocker. Graduates don’t love AI as much as the boomers using it to replace their jobs,” another chimed in.
“Calling AI the next industrial revolution to a crowd worried about jobs was never going to end peacefully,” one said in reply to a post.
A few replies did defend Caulfield’s comments, saying she is right about AI being the next Industrial Revolution. Some even scolded the graduates for not being open to the idea that AI will be a part of their lives going forward.
Samantha Neely is a trending reporter for the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida, covering pop culture, theme parks, breaking news and more. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY, at https://floridatoday.com/newsletters.
