Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak aroused cheers and applause rather than boos when he brought up AI during a college commencement speech, in which he stressed the importance of human intelligence.
“You all have AI,” Wozniak said during the Grand Valley State University Commencement Ceremony in Michigan earlier this month, pausing as the graduates stirred in their seats expecting him to talk about the controversial tech.
“Actual Intelligence,” he added emphatically, pulling out the rug and sparking widespread cheers from the students.
“My entire life in the technical world I’ve been following people who were trying to figure out how to make a brain,” Wozniak, 75, continued.
“Software, hardware, synapse chips, and I was at a company where the engineers figured out how to make a brain: [it] takes nine months,” Wozniak said.
Wozniak’s warm reception stands in stark contrast to speakers at other college graduations in recent weeks, who have been mercilessly heckled and mocked by graduates for mentioning AI, which many young people see as a threat to their future careers.
A Florida real estate mogul Gloria Caulfield was awkwardly met by a chorus of boos during her speech at the University of Central Florida graduation on May 8 after proclaiming “artificial intelligence is the next Industrial Revolution.”
Caulfield, a former health care executive, was only able to regain the crowd for a brief second when she said. “Only a few years ago, AI was not a factor in our lives” — which prompted a resounding applause.
Big Machine Records CEO Scott Borchetta shrugged off the boos when he brought up AI during Middle Tennessee State University’s commencement ceremony.
“AI is rewriting production as we sit here,” said the music mogul, who was met with a chorus of boos inside the university’s 10,000-seat arena on May 10.
“Hey, like I said, you can hear me now or pay me later,” Bochetta, who is credited with discovering pop star Taylor Swift, continued in response to the jeers. “Then do something about it. It’s a tool, make it work for you.”
On May 16, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt’s speech to University of Arizona graduates was drowned out by boos when the topic of AI came up.
“I know what many of you are feeling about that. I can hear you. There is a fear,” Schmidt said, as boos briefly drowned him out.
Schmidt’s invitation to the ceremony was already controversial as he faces sex abuse allegations from his much-younger ex-girlfriend.
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