In the US, graduates are booing and slow-clapping tech execs who make AI the centerpiece of their commencement speeches. The only people surprised by this are the CEOs themselves.
Why it's happening
The logic isn't hard to follow: graduates spent years and significant money on their education, and they're entering a job market where companies are actively pulling back on entry-level hiring — citing automation and AI. Getting a "AI is your greatest tool" pep talk from someone whose company just announced another round of layoffs lands somewhere between tone-deaf and insulting.
Why it matters
This isn't anti-tech sentiment. Graduates aren't against AI — they're against the way industry leaders talk about it as pure upside without acknowledging that it's also making their career start harder. The gap between corporate narrative and lived reality is widening, and commencement speeches are apparently where that frustration is finding an audience — even if an involuntary one.