Congratulations to UCF Grads for Booing Their AI-Obsessed Commencement Speaker

Congratulations are in order for the graduating class of the University of Central Florida, for (a) graduating from college and (b) booing their commencement speaker every time she praised AI. Caps off! 

On Saturday, the commencement address at the University of Central Florida went viral when the speaker spoke at length about the promise of AI, prompting the graduating class to repeatedly boo her. The speaker was Gloria Caulfield, a Florida businesswoman and the VP of “Strategic Alliance” at the real estate development company, Tavistock, or in other words, the job they give the bad guy in the movie, who you don’t know is the bad guy yet. The speech was already off to a bad start when she bragged about working with “prolific leaders and innovators” like everyone’s favorite guy, Jeff Bezos, but then took a turn for the worse:

“We are living in a time of profound change. That’s an understatement, right? Change is exciting. And let’s face it: change can be daunting,” she said, then: “The rise of artificial intelligence is the next Industrial Revolution.” This was the first boo of many, loud enough to catch her so off guard that she turned to the faculty behind her and asked, “What happened?” What happened was you celebrated AI in front of a bunch of artists, Gloria. “Okay. I struck a chord,” she continued. “May I finish?”

“Only a few years ago, AI was not a factor in our lives.” At this, the graduates began cheering. “And now AI capabilities are in the palm of our hands,” she added, and then, of course, was booed. 

this graduation speech moment is notable, and her amazed shock at having failed to read the room feels instructive.

when you’re inside the bubble, you think everybody else is. but everybody isn’t.

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— Cabel Sasser (@cabel.panic.com) May 10, 2026 at 10:12 PM

Still, she went on: “AI is beginning to challenge to find its highest and best use.” Ah, yes, the highest and best use, like eliminating entry-level jobs that all those recent grads hate. She then compared AI to the advent of the internet and texting, “Ultimately, it was a game changer for global economic development and the proliferation of new businesses that never existed, like Apple, Google, and Meta, and so many others.” All she had to do was string together a couple of cliches and shake some hands, and she wouldn’t have gone viral. Instead, she decided to use her time as ad space for AI.

“AI alongside human intelligence has the potential to help us solve some of humanity’s greatest problems. Many of you in this graduating class will play a role in making this happen.”

The irony of praising AI to a group of graduates who will be entering one of the worst job markets in decades is not lost, but what makes it even ickier is that she was addressing the College of Arts and Humanities, which consists of programs like film, animation, performing arts, music, and just about every other artistic endeavor endangered by AI.

So no need to tell these graduates to “seize the day.” They’ve already figured that out on their own. Congratulations, class of 2026! May you go forward each day with the courage to keep booing AI supervillains.