An AI system malfunctioned while it was being used to read the names of Glendale Community College (GCC) graduates at the school’s commencement ceremony in Glendale, Arizona, on Friday — resulting in the event needing to be paused at least twice to great frustration of graduates and their loved ones.
Students and families were left frustrated after the names being read at GCC’s commencement ceremony didn’t match the graduates walking across the stage, according to a report by AZ Family.
Grace Reimer told the outlet that the incident “definitely made me feel uneasy,” recalling having crossed the stage to retrieve her degree, only to return to her chair and realize something was off.
“I also didn’t hear a lot of cheering, and I know my family is a pretty loud family,” Reimer said.
She ended up hearing her name called several minutes later.
It turns out that the names of graduates being displayed on a screen at the commencement ceremony had stopped changing.
“Here’s what happening. We’re using a new AI system as our reader,” Glendale Community College President Tiffany Hernandez explained during the ceremony mishap, eliciting boos from the audience. “Yep, so that is a lesson learned for us,” the GCC president added.
But Hernandez’s clarification did not satisfy several students, including Reimer, who told AZ Family, “It didn’t feel sincere and it kinda felt like they didn’t care.”
“During one of our commencement ceremonies, there was a technical issue that impacted the reading of some graduate names,” Glendale Community College said in a follow-up statement.
“While the issue was corrected during the ceremony, we are sorry for the disruption it caused during what should have been a celebratory moment for our graduates and their families,” the school continued.
“We have also communicated directly with graduates to apologize for the experience,” GCC added. “We are incredibly proud of all our graduates and are taking steps to ensure an issue like this does not occur again.”
While college officials had initially said students would not be allowed to walk again, the decision was reversed following backlash from the community, Newsweek reported.
During the re-do, graduates whose names had been skipped were called back to the stage for a second go at it — this time, with a human announcer reading their names.
Ironically, Glendale Community College had warned that AI systems “are known to produce inaccurate information” in an online resource about responsible use of artificial intelligence and ethical concerns.
Moreover, the site adds that AI issues can also lead to “real-world negative or dangerous consequences.”
“Students should be reminded that the onus is always on the end user to verify any and all information that comes from a text generator,” the guidance states, amusingly adding that it is the students’ responsibility “to verify any and all information that comes from a text generator.”
Breitbart News recently reported that ex-Google CEO and Democrat mega-donor Eric Schmidt was loudly booed when he brought up AI during a commencement speech, while graduates at the University of Central Florida also booed a commencement speaker who praised AI.
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.
Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.