Business Finance Media Technology Policy Wealth Insights Interviews

Art Art Fairs Art Market Art Reviews Auctions Galleries Museums Interviews

Lifestyle Nightlife & Dining Style Travel Interviews

Power Lists Nightlife & Dining Art A.I. PR

About About Observer Advertise With Us Reprints

What Gen Z’s A.I. Backlash Reveals About the Future of Work

The commencement boos aimed at A.I. advocates reveal a generation wrestling with uncertainty about work, opportunity and agency.

At the University of Arizona, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt was loudly booed as he compared A.I. to previous waves of technological innovation and urged graduates to help “shape” its future. At the University of Central Florida, real estate executive Gloria Caulfield drew loud jeers when she called A.I. “the next industrial revolution.” At commencement ceremonies across the country, these moments of backlash against A.I. have made leaders across industries take note: Gen Z’s pushback against A.I. is getting louder. What are they telling us?

Sign Up For Our Daily Newsletter

Thank you for signing up!

By clicking submit, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge we may use your information to send you emails, product samples, and promotions on this website and other properties. You can opt out anytime.

As the incoming interim dean at the Kogod School of Business at American University, where we have intentionally integrated A.I. throughout the curriculum since 2023, I see those clips of graduation boos less as a protest against the technology and more as a message from students. Perhaps they are not rejecting A.I. itself (many use it every day!). Rather, they are likely reacting to the way A.I. is often presented: as an inevitable force that will disrupt their lives and careers, and one they are expected to accept with enthusiasm.

The landscape for college students and new graduates is changing faster than we can prepare them for, and students feel uncertain about their futures. Many are entering a........

© Observer