Cheers, jeers, and laughs: The speeches about AI that drew strong responses from 2026 grads

• AI is a hot topic at 2026 graduations, sparking mixed reactions from graduates and speakers.
• Eric Schmidt faced boos at the University of Arizona for mentioning AI.
• Comedians like Conan O’Brien have found it’s a great source for material.

“So people naturally ask: ‘What will be left for human beings to do?'” he said. “But, perhaps that’s the wrong question. The better question is, ‘What does AI tell us about all the things we humans already do — and that are distinctive and irreplaceable?'”

Zakaria gave students “a trigger warning” that he was going to talk about AI in light of the response to Schmidt and other commencement speakers around the country who had been jeered when bringing up the technology.

“Feel free to get the booing out of the way,” he said.

The rest of Zakaria’s speech focused on HI, or human intelligence, the biology and resulting characteristics that make humans exceptional.

“A machine can write a sad poem, but it cannot weep at a funeral,” he said. “The more powerful AI becomes, the more we may rediscover how much we value the distinctly human.”