UCF graduates boo 'tone deaf' speaker who praised AI as 'next Industrial Revolution'

Steven Walker, Orlando Sentinel on May 13, 2026

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ORLANDO, Fla. — A University of Central Florida commencement speaker’s speech praising artificial intelligence was meet with thunderous boos from graduates during a ceremony last week, a sign of how some young people dislike the technology’s encroachment into the workforce.

Gloria Caulfield, an executive from Tavistock Development Company, spoke to graduates from UCF’s College of Arts and Humanities and School of Communication on May 8. During her speech, Caulfield lauded AI as the “next Industrial Revolution,” setting off a chorus of boos.

“What happened?” Caulfield said, backing away from the lectern and looking to the other university leaders on stage at UCF’s arena. “OK, I struck a chord.”

Dillon Delaney, one of the UCF graduates at the ceremony, said Caulfield’s speech was “tone deaf” and “like watching a car crash in real time.”

In addition to her poorly received comments on AI, he said Caulfield’s background as a real estate executive — Tavistock is the developer of Orlando’s Lake Nona community — didn’t match the majors, interests and plans of this group of UCF graduates.

“It was just full of word salad, empty platitudes, and really had nothing to do with me,” Delaney said of Caulfield’s speech, which focused on how people are often skeptical of new technology, though it often ends up a success.

The 22-year-old graduated with a major in digital media and minor in computer science.

Delaney didn’t boo, he said, but understood why other students did. Caulfield’s remarks underscore the growing divide between how corporate executives feel about AI in everyday life and how regular people feel, he added.

Half of the adults in the United States say they are more concerned than excited about the increasing use of AI in daily life, according to a March survey by the Pew Research Center.

The boos at UCF quickly went viral on social media platforms, with posts about the speech gaining millions of views online. Delaney said he had friends in his home state of Alabama text him that they’d seen a clip of it on CNN.

“The tech world has genuinely not grappled with how many people despise them and what they make,” read a post on X that included a clip of the speech and garnered more than 6 million views and 63,000 likes.

UCF’s media relations department did not respond to a request for comment on the reaction of the graduation speech, and Tavistock did not respond to an email requesting comment from Caulfield.

The graduates didn’t boo at everything Caulfield said.

“Only a few years ago, AI was not a factor in our lives,” she said.

The graduates cheered and applauded.

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