A.I. commencement speaker draws ire of D'Youville students

D'Youville's commencement ceremony on May 11 will once again take place at LECOM Harborcenter.

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) -- D'Youville University's decision to bring in an A.I. robot as this year's commencement speaker has drawn backlash from students and members of the community.

This week, the college announced that Sophia, a "social humanoid robot," would be brought to Buffalo to take part in a conversation with Student Government Association president John Rizk.

“I use AI every day, multiple times a day,” Rizk said. “I am much more productive and organized having AI in my pocket to help me with daily tasks. A.I. to me is what the calculator was to my parents. I’m excited to interview Sophia and help affirm AI is not going away, and that my generation needs to figure out how to appropriately deal with it.”

In recent years, D'Youville has strongly pushed to raise awareness of virtual reality and A.I., and Sophia's pending arrival is the school's latest effort.

"As a unique combination of science, engineering, and artistry, Sophia is simultaneously a human-crafted science fiction character depicting the future of AI and robotics, and a platform for advanced robotics and AI research," Sophia's creators at Hanson Robotics, said.

D'Youville administration commented on the decision to make Sophia commencement speaker.

"We focused our programmatic theme around artificial intelligence this year as we considered it very timely and beneficial to our students who are entering a world that is dramatically different than that of the past," D'Youville Vice President for Student Affairs Benjamin Grant said.

University President Dr. Lorrie Clemo also spoke on the decision.

"D’Youville University hopes to ensure all students understand technology and can think critically about the future they build for us," Dr. Clemo said.

But the announcement was met with heat. In a News 4 Facebook post about the announcement, a firestorm of comments criticized the school's decision.

"Graduations are for the celebrating human beings," one Facebook user wrote before calling it "dehumanizing to the class of 2024."

"Thank you for spending $$$ this is your future workplace replacement," another said.

Other comments called the decision "terrible," "unreal" and "offensive."

Students are fighting back against it, calling for a replacement speaker via a petition that's already gathered more than 1,700 signatures, as of Friday at Noon.

"As the class of 2024 reaches their commencement, we are reminded of the virtual graduations we attended at the end of our high school careers," the petition reads. "The connection to A.I. in this scenario feels similarly impersonal. This is shameful to the 2020 graduates receiving their diplomas, as they feel they are having another important ceremony taken away. We have learned in the last 4 years how important human connection is to our well-being and our professions as a whole."

Grant said a mixed response was expected.

"I don’t believe I have seen an article on the topic of artificial intelligence that has had unanimous support, and we did not expect this news to be any different," Grant said.

He said D'Youville consistently monitors relevant societal topics and noted that many of the school's daily operations already include an A.I. element.

"The selection process involved the evaluation of various technologies based on criteria such as the robot’s ability to deliver a compelling presentation, its capacity for engaging with an audience, and its alignment with the values of our university – including serving as a space for developmental exploration," Grant said.

Despite the pushback, D'Youville hopes this year's graduates can benefit from the experience.

"We look at this as a very safe and low-risk opportunity to model what we hope our students will take away – the ability to have constructive dialogue on difficult topics that are polarizing," Grant said.

D'Youville's commencement ceremony on May 11 will once again take place at LECOM Harborcenter.