On May 8, the University of Central Florida held the graduation ceremony for the College of Arts and Humanities and the Nicholson School of Communication and Media. The ceremony was accompanied by Gloria Caulfield, the vice president of strategic alliances at Tavistock Development Company, as the commencement speaker.
During her remarks, she discussed entrepreneurs and prominent figures who have been speakers at the Lake Nona Impact Forum, Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon; Lindsey Vonn, an Olympic athlete; and Fred Smith, founder of FedEx. She explained her mission within her work, which involves a global health innovation forum, where she does not limit the attendees to those in the medical field. Caulfield mentioned the arts, such as music and theatre, as a kind of “medicine.” This message applied to those in the audience, as arts and communications majors, and she was applauded for her speech until she mentioned a touchy subject for many in attendance.
“We are living in a time of profound change … The rise of artificial intelligence is the next industrial revolution,” she said. Caulfield was quickly met with boos and negative remarks from graduates. Shocked, she turned to UCF’s esteemed leaders to her right and laughed, “What happened?” and “Okay, I struck a chord. May I finish?”
She continued her speech, mentioning how a few years ago, “AI was not a factor in our lives,” which was met with great cheer from the graduates. Finally, following that, she said, “Now, AI capabilities are in the palm of our hands,” which was once again met with tones of disapproval.
It was at this moment that someone in the crowd repeatedly said, “Just skip it,” referring to the part of the speech she had designated to AI. It was clear Caulfield was not expecting the response from graduates who exclaimed their “passion,” as she referred to it. Her speech delved into the rise of the internet during her graduation era, which she attempted to compare to the current rise of AI.
Within a week of this graduation ceremony, Caulfield’s speech was reported on by Central Florida news channels and newspapers, such as Orlando Weekly and News 6 WKMG. Larger than that, it officially went viral on Instagram and other blog websites, such as Kotaku, where writer Kenneth Shepard explained how Caulfield “didn’t know how to read the room.”
In an Instagram video made by UCF Alumna Jayna Manohalal at News 6 WKMG, she asked viewers to share their opinions on AI, causing discourse in the comment section. Most agreed with the feelings of the graduates, and one user even wrote, “She was speaking at the Arts and Humanities graduation. She deserved that.”
Before her speech, Caulfield was recognized for her development of the Lake Nona community through the Lake Nona Impact Forum. Notably for UCF students, a large development on the forum website is the relocation of the College of Nursing to the Lake Nona campus, which was reported on by The Charge News, UCF’s student-run news outlet, about a year ago. The College of Nursing’s Lake Nona Campus is close to “the VA Medical Center, Nemours Children’s Hospital, and HCA UCF Lake Nona Hospital,” according to reporter Cassandra Joseph.
For many college students, the rise of AI is a deeply worrisome topic—particularly for graduates within the College of Arts and Humanities and the Nicholson School of Communication and Media, who view the technology with anxiety or skepticism. Because these specific students feel their future careers are threatened by automation, many questioned why the university chose this particular commencement ceremony to deliver a speech focused on AI.