Jeremy Scott’s speech at a university commencement ceremony began with an AI-written speech that could have ended with boos.
Instead, The fashion designer received a huge round of applause.
Scott’s commencement address at the Kansas City Art Institute on May 16 began as expected. He congratulated the students on reaching “the threshold of a new beginning.” Their “power is limitless,” he said.
“It sounds kind of mundane, doesn’t it? It doesn’t sound real, right? It sounds like you’ve heard it before, right? That’s because it’s AI,” he revealed.
Scott then ripped up his AI-written speech, drawing laughter and cheers from the audience. He told students he didn’t want “an AI overlord telling us what’s right and what’s wrong.”
“Because you know what AI can’t do? AI can’t do what you do. It can’t have original ideas. It can’t even tell the difference between a good idea, a unique idea, and a mediocre idea,” Scott said.
He said human artists have passion, which is what sets them apart from AI.
“That’s why your role as an artist is so urgent right now. I would argue that in this time and space we’re living in, artists are more important than ever,” Scott said. “That’s because artists don’t tell the truth. It’s the artists who decide what the truth is. Artists are a mirror of society, but at the same time they are the ones who distort reality.”
Scott may have already seen the reactions other commencement speakers received when they talked about AI.
Earlier this month, students booed former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and real estate executive Gloria Caulfield for comments about AI at two separate graduation ceremonies. Big Machine Records CEO Scott Borchetta faced backlash at Middle Tennessee State University after discussing the impact of AI on music and media.
It’s no wonder that graduates have concerns about AI.
They are entering the workforce just as technology is reshaping entry-level jobs. AI is also transforming the way companies evaluate candidates and the specific skills they need. At least 12 major companies are citing improved efficiency from AI as a factor in their performance. decision to dismiss an employee this year.
Even outside of the workplace, many Americans aren’t excited about the continued increasing interaction with AI in their daily lives, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey. And many Americans resist the large data centers needed to advance this technology.
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak seemed to understand the concerns of graduates when he gave a commencement speech at Grand Valley State University earlier this month, before Schmidt and others’ comments made headlines.
The students cheered when he said that they already had AI, “actual intelligence.”