A real estate executive delivering a commencement address at the University of Central Florida was met with a chorus of boos and jeers after declaring that AI represents the next Industrial Revolution.
The New York Post reports that Gloria Caulfield, vice president of strategic alliances at Orlando-based Tavistock Development Company, sparked controversy during her speech to communication and media graduates at UCF’s Addition Financial Arena on Friday night. Her remarks about AI drew an immediate and vocal negative response from the audience.
“The rise of artificial intelligence is the next Industrial Revolution,” Caulfield stated, which prompted loud boos from graduates and attendees. The unexpected reaction left Caulfield visibly confused, causing her to step back from the podium and ask other educators on stage, “What happened?”
After a moment, Caulfield acknowledged the crowd’s reaction, saying, “OK, I struck a chord. May I finish?” as murmurs continued throughout the arena.
The speaker attempted to regain her composure and continue with her prepared remarks. “Only a few years ago, AI was not a factor in our lives,” she said, which drew applause and cheering from the audience.
“OK, all right, we’ve got a bipolar topic here, I see,” Caulfield joked before losing support from portions of the crowd again.
“And now AI capabilities are in the palm of our hands,” she added, which received a mixed reaction of both boos and applause.
“Oh, I love it,” Caulfield said while laughing. “Passion. Let’s go.”
The former health care executive continued her address by describing technological revolutions she had witnessed during her lifetime, including the invention of the internet, email, and the evolution of cellular phones since their initial launch.
“I know it sounds amusing, but at the time, we had no idea how any of these technologies would impact the world and our lives,” Caulfield said. “These were some of the same trepidations and concerns we are now facing. But ultimately, it was a game-changer for global economic development and the proliferation of new businesses that never existed.”
As she concluded her speech, Caulfield expressed her belief that artificial intelligence could serve as a beneficial tool for society if properly regulated and controlled. “Being an optimist here, AI alongside human intelligence has the potential to help us solve some of humanity’s biggest problems,” she said. “Many of you in this graduating class will play a role in making this happen.”
The artificial intelligence discussion occupied approximately three minutes of Caulfield’s eleven-minute commencement address. The remarks left many graduates dissatisfied, particularly as they prepare to enter a job market increasingly influenced by artificial intelligence technology.
Houda Eletr, a graduate from the Nicholson School of Communication and Media, expressed strong disapproval of the speech’s content and tone. “To stand in front of a graduating class of artists and communicators and discuss Jeff Bezos and Howard Schultz, is to spit on our efforts to flip the script,” Eletr told the Orlando Weekly. “I’m embarrassed to have had to endure the most embarrassing, unskippable, tone-deaf, ad-like commencement. Boo to AI and boo to your agenda.”
As this viral video demonstrates, AI is an increasingly divisive topic, especially for America’s youth. Breitbart News social media director Wynton Hall has written his instant bestseller Code Red: The Left, the Right, China, and the Race to Control AI to serve as the definitive guide on how the MAGA movement can create positions on AI that benefit humanity without handing control of our nation to the leftists of Silicon Valley or allowing the Chinese to take over the world.
Read more at the New York Post here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of AI, free speech, and online censorship.