Student commencement boos are a sign of wider AI woes

Artificial intelligenceStudent commencement boos are a sign of wider AI woesOn college campuses nationwide, some people are growing uneasy with AI, citing threats to jobs, hobbies and even résumé-writing.Listen to this article with a free account00:0000:00NBC News spoke with seven students from universities across the country who described seeing their peers rely on AI to cut corners in school, sometimes at the encouragement of faculty members.Leila Register / NBC News; Getty ImagesShareAdd NBC News to GoogleMay 28, 2026, 7:06 PM EDTBy Angela Yang and Jared PerloAs companies race to weave AI into nearly every industry, some college students are responding with open hostility.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.At at least three college commencement ceremonies this month, graduates loudly booed invited speakers who praised AI. On Thursday, Vice President JD Vance addressed the incidents in a speech at the U.S. Air Force Academy, acknowledging the growing anti-AI sentiment. On at least five campuses, students have also formed anti-AI groups, gathering with peers to advocate for slowing the technology’s unchecked development. The pushback reflects a widening disconnect between business leaders’ optimism about AI and students’ anxieties over its impact on jobs, creativity and critical thinking.01:18Vance warns Air Force graduates of AI 'era of warfare'00:0000:00“Part of the learning process is struggling to understand and break down the content,” said Paul Webster, a rising sophomore studying computer science at the University of California, Berkeley. “If you use AI for that — which is what professors were encouraging students to do — it severely impacts your actual understanding.”NBC News spoke with seven students from universities across the country, including Webster, who described seeing their peers rely on AI to cut corners in school, sometimes at the encouragement of faculty members.A poll c...