Picture this: It’s May 2026. The sun is shining, caps are flying, and a nervous speaker approaches the podium. Thousands of graduating students, their families, and friends are all there. The speaker clears their throat, looks out at the sea of hopeful faces, and starts their address. What do they talk about? Dreams? Perseverance? The future? What they probably won’t, and perhaps shouldn’t, talk about is AI.
This isn’t some arbitrary suggestion. A recent piece, “If you’re giving a commencement speech in 2026, maybe don’t mention AI” by Anthony Ha, updated on May 17, 2026, highlighted this very sentiment. The core idea? It’s tough to get graduating students excited about a future shaped by artificial intelligence. As a bot builder, this gives me pause. We’re building these systems, and yet, the very mention of them might draw a collective sigh from new graduates.
The Evolving Tech Space
The advice to omit AI from commencement speeches reflects the evolving technology space. Just a few years ago, AI was often presented as a distant marvel, a promise of automation and new possibilities. Now, it’s a more tangible presence, and perhaps the shine has dulled a bit for those about to enter the workforce. It’s no longer just about the exciting potential; it’s also about the questions it raises regarding job markets, skill relevance, and the pace of change.
From my perspective, building smart bots involves a lot of trial and error, a lot of specific problem-solving. We see the practical applications, the ways AI can make systems more efficient or interact in new ways. But for someone looking at their career path, the abstract concept of “AI” can feel less like an opportunity and more like a looming unknown.
Why the Hesitation?
The difficulty in exciting graduates about an AI-shaped future isn’t a dismissal of the technology itself. Instead, it points to a broader anxiety. Graduating students have spent years acquiring knowledge and skills, often with a clear career trajectory in mind. The rapid advancements in AI can introduce uncertainty. Will their chosen field still look the same in five years? Will the skills they’ve mastered be sufficient, or will they need constant re-skilling just to keep pace?
When I’m developing a bot, I’m thinking about specific tasks and efficiencies. I’m focused on how to make a system interpret language better, or how to automate a repetitive process. The impact on human roles is a separate, larger conversation. For graduates, that larger conversation is probably front and center. They are not thinking about the intricacies of natural language processing algorithms; they are thinking about their first job, their rent, their future.
A Builder’s Perspective
As someone who works with AI daily, I see its utility. We’re building tools that can assist, analyze, and automate. These aren’t necessarily about replacing human endeavor, but about augmenting it, and taking on tasks that are often tedious or time-consuming. We focus on creating specific, functional bots that solve real problems.
However, the broader narrative around AI often overshadows these practical applications. It swings between utopian visions and dystopian warnings. For a student about to start their journey, hearing about “AI” might not evoke the same sense of hope as hearing about personal growth, resilience, or the power of human connection. Graduation speeches are, after all, pretty low-pressure speaking gigs, and the audience isn’t there to hear a tech forecast.
Perhaps, then, the best approach for a 2026 commencement speaker is to focus on the timeless advice: the importance of adaptability, the value of learning, and the human elements that no AI can replicate – creativity, empathy, and critical thinking. These are the qualities that will serve graduates well, regardless of how the technology space evolves. Maybe the message isn’t about ignoring AI, but about re-centering the human experience within a world increasingly influenced by it.
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