Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt faced a mixed reception during a commencement speech at the University of Arizona after discussing the growing influence of artificial intelligence and concerns about how the technology could affect jobs and society.
Schmidt, who served as Google’s CEO from 2001 to 2011, delivered remarks to graduating students on Friday focused on innovation, technological change, and the challenges facing younger generations. While much of the speech centered on his experiences in the tech industry, tensions rose when he turned to the topic of artificial intelligence, which has become a source of growing concern among workers entering an increasingly automated economy.
During his remarks, Schmidt reflected on how digital technology transformed communication and public life over the past two decades. He acknowledged that many of the innovations celebrated during the rise of Silicon Valley also created unintended consequences.
“The same tools that connect us also isolate us. The same platforms that gave everyone a voice… degraded the public square,” Schmidt told graduates.
Audience reactions became more vocal when Schmidt compared artificial intelligence to earlier waves of technological disruption, including past industrial revolutions that reshaped labor markets and entire industries. Some graduates responded with boos as he spoke about AI’s inevitability and its role in the future economy.
Schmidt appeared to directly address the reaction from the crowd, acknowledging the fears many younger Americans feel about their economic future and the rapid pace of technological change.
“I know what many of you are feeling about that. I can hear you,” Schmidt said. “There is a fear in your generation that the future has already been written, that the machines are coming, that the jobs are evaporating, that the climate is breaking, that politics are fractured, and that you are inheriting a mess that you did not create.”
Rather than dismiss those concerns, Schmidt described them as understandable. However, he encouraged graduates to become active participants in shaping how artificial intelligence develops instead of rejecting the technology outright.
“The question is not whether AI will shape the world. It will,” Schmidt said. “The question is whether you will have shaped artificial intelligence.”
The exchange highlights broader national concerns surrounding AI as companies across multiple industries continue expanding the use of automation and machine-learning systems. Businesses including IBM, Klarna, and other major corporations have openly discussed using AI to streamline operations, reduce costs, and replace certain administrative or entry-level tasks previously handled by employees.
Those developments have contributed to growing skepticism among the public. A recent Pew Research Center survey found many Americans remain more worried than optimistic about the expanding role of AI in everyday life and the workforce.
Schmidt’s appearance at the commencement ceremony also attracted criticism from some student activist groups because of allegations raised in a lawsuit filed last year by former partner Michelle Ritter. Schmidt has denied the allegations, and his attorney previously described them as fabricated. Earlier this year, a judge ordered the dispute into arbitration.
Despite the controversy and crowd reaction, the University of Arizona defended its decision to invite Schmidt as commencement speaker. University spokesperson Mitch Zak pointed to Schmidt’s long career in technology and his philanthropic work supporting science and research initiatives.
“He helped lead Google’s rise into one of the world’s most influential technology companies and continues to advance research and discovery through major philanthropic and scientific initiatives,” Zak said in a statement.
The reaction at Arizona follows a similar commencement incident earlier this month at the University of Central Florida, where real estate executive Gloria Caulfield was also met with boos after comparing artificial intelligence to “the next Industrial Revolution.”
Schmidt concluded his speech by encouraging graduates to remain engaged in debates surrounding technology and society, arguing that the future is still being written despite fears surrounding AI and automation.
“The future is not yet finished,” Schmidt said in his closing remarks. “It is now your turn to shape it.”
