Jobs booed: The real anger over AI at US rallies

WASHINGTON: For years, US commencement (commencement) speakers could safely rely on formulaic speeches that included inspirational platitudes, autobiographical struggles and exhortations to fresh graduates to “dream big” rather than fear failure. In 2026, new guardrails arise: Mention artificial intelligence at your own risk.During this year’s commencement season, commencement speakers across the United States were met not with polite applause but with boos and jeers when they invoked artificial intelligence technology. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt was heckled after telling graduates at the University of Arizona that they would help shape the future of artificial intelligence. This argument is awkward among students in a job market increasingly filled with automation, layoffs and hiring freezes.At the University of Central Florida, graduates booed when real estate executive Gloria Caulfield declared that “the rise of artificial intelligence is the next industrial revolution.” The response was quick, with the surprised speaker asking, “What happened?” before bravely trying to continue. At Middle Tennessee State University, music director Scott Borchetta also drew boos when he talked about the impact of artificial intelligence on the creative industries. Instead of optimism, many graduates hear something closer: “Congratulations, your replacement is scalable.”Heckling is more than just campus theater. It reflects a broader resistance in the United States to a technological order that is increasingly seen as enriching billionaires while unsettling others. While elites promise economic growth and affluence, young graduates (and their parents) are worrying about electricity bills, water supplies and the disappearance of entry-level jobs. Now, that anger has spread beyond campuses into suburbs, farmlands and zoning board meetings — especially around data centers, the massive warehouse-like facilities that fuel the AI ​​boom. Just outside Washington, D.C., in northern Virginia, residents nicknamed “Data Center Alley” are fighting proposed server farms over issues such as noise, power use, land consumption and environmental impacts. Similar unrest has spread to Georgia, Arizona, Oregon, Texas and New Jersey.It has become such a hot-button topic that President Trump himself faced skepticism on Wednesday, but he insisted that “artificial intelligence is amazing because we have more jobs, more workers in the United States than ever before” before quickly pivoting to Iran. From chipmakers to cloud providers to venture capitalists, the billionaire class is touting artificial intelligence as the next transformative leap in human productivity. They’re not entirely wrong. Artificial intelligence promises medical breakthroughs, faster scientific research, personalized education, improved logistics, greater efficiency and potentially trillions in economic output. “Artificial intelligence already exists, and in many areas it is smarter than humans. We have to get used to the idea that artificial intelligence will replace humans in many areas. ” said Professor Lil Mohan, who teaches courses on artificial intelligence at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.Critics, however, argue that the benefits are unevenly distributed. Graduates entering journalism, design, software engineering, law, marketing or customer support are now simultaneously hearing that artificial intelligence will create extraordinary productivity gains, while entry-level jobs may be lost as software drafts memos, generates code, summarizes documents or designs graphics.Meanwhile, residents near proposed data centers hear promises of innovation and tax revenue but sometimes see rising energy demands, massive water consumption, an industrialized landscape and relatively limited permanent job creation. Public skepticism about artificial intelligence has risen as the community questions whether technological acceleration overrides democratic consent. “It’s a very natural reaction among graduates, because there’s some small fact that entry-level jobs are going away,” said Aditya Balu, who graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 2019 and is now an operations analyst in the World Bank’s AI unit. “Ultimately everyone has to suck it up and upskill in AI because it’s going to bring amazing advances.” However, there is more to this story than just AI optimism or techno-pessimism. History also carries a warning often ignored in Silicon Valley keynotes: Transformation hurts. They redistribute power. They create winners and losers. Anger ensues when ordinary people believe the billionaire class reaps most of the benefits while communities absorb the disruption.That might explain why America’s graduates are booing.