Microsoft, like, totally gets why students are booing AI-pilled graduation speakers

微软表示：完全理解学生为何对“AI 狂热”的毕业演讲喝倒彩

New college graduates around the country have been booing and heckling commencement speakers who hype up AI. Microsoft would like everyone to talk it out. 全美各地的大学毕业生们近期纷纷对那些大肆吹捧人工智能（AI）的毕业典礼演讲者报以嘘声和嘲讽。对此，微软公司希望能与大家进行一番沟通。

In a blog post running more than 3,100 words, Microsoft vice chair and president Brad Smith addressed the recent spate of viral clips from graduation ceremonies, like former Google CEO Eric Schmidt getting an earful at the University of Arizona, or the speaker in Florida who seemed surprised when students booed at the mention of AI as “the next industrial revolution.” The videos speak to a broader societal sentiment around AI — the technology is deeply unpopular even as technology companies insert it everywhere without consent. Young people use AI, yet feel bad about it. The backlash against massive data centers is shaping up to be a defining political issue. There’s the sense that these viral clips are a cathartic expression of just how out of touch executives and technocrats really are. 在一篇长达 3100 多字的博客文章中，微软副董事长兼总裁布拉德·史密斯（Brad Smith）回应了近期在毕业典礼上疯传的视频片段。例如，前谷歌 CEO 埃里克·施密特（Eric Schmidt）在亚利桑那大学演讲时遭到学生抗议，以及佛罗里达州的一位演讲者在将 AI 称为“下一次工业革命”时，因学生们的嘘声而显得错愕。这些视频反映了社会对 AI 更广泛的情绪——尽管科技公司在未经用户同意的情况下将其强行植入各个领域，但这项技术本身却极不受欢迎。年轻人虽然在使用 AI，却对此感到不安。针对大型数据中心的抵制浪潮正逐渐演变成一个关键的政治议题。人们普遍认为，这些疯传的视频是一种宣泄，表达了对高管和技术官僚们脱离现实的强烈不满。

In the blog post, Smith takes a conciliatory tone: Of course young people are reacting this way. It’s the wake-up call for the adults in the room! 在博客中，史密斯采取了安抚的口吻：年轻人有这样的反应是理所当然的。这对在场的成年人来说是一个警钟！

“Graduating students who grimace or even boo at references to AI are telling us what we need to hear, that it’s time once again to raise the bar,” Smith writes. “That has been a frequent refrain from students for decades. The key is always to channel uncertainty into purposeful steps that build a better future.” “那些对 AI 话题皱眉甚至喝倒彩的毕业生们，正在告诉我们必须听到的真相：是时候再次提高标准了，”史密斯写道，“几十年来，这一直是学生们反复强调的呼声。关键在于如何将这种不确定性转化为构建更美好未来的实际行动。”

But in substance, the blog post is similar to the line of reasoning that have elicited the boos in the first place: that AI will reshape culture, labor, and relationships in ways we might not even understand yet. Smith also suggests graduates are more attuned to an AI-filled future, having grown up with technology and being more nimble to change. 但从本质上讲，这篇博客文章的逻辑与最初引发嘘声的论调如出一辙：即 AI 将以我们尚未完全理解的方式重塑文化、劳动力和人际关系。史密斯还暗示，毕业生们在科技环境中成长，对变化更加敏锐，因此更能适应充满 AI 的未来。

“You’re in a unique position to have a positive impact. You’ve lived through significant challenges,” he writes. “While it may feel unfair that the job market is so uncertain, you were made for this moment.” “你们处于产生积极影响的独特位置。你们已经历过重大的挑战，”他写道，“虽然就业市场的不确定性让人感到不公，但你们正是为这个时代而生的。”

The idea that what the tech industry needs to do is “raise the bar” will also likely be met with skepticism from consumers: It was, after all, these very same people — including Microsoft partners like OpenAI’s Sam Altman — who once warned of the catastrophic effects of AI, only to walk it back after realizing it landed poorly (Microsoft execs, too, are trying to thread the needle around jobs). Why should the public trust the people who caused this uncertainty to be the ones to clean up the mess? 科技行业需要“提高标准”这一观点，很可能会遭到消费者的质疑：毕竟，正是这些人——包括微软的合作伙伴 OpenAI 的萨姆·奥特曼（Sam Altman）——曾警告过 AI 的灾难性后果，却在意识到舆论不佳后又改口（微软的高管们也在就业问题上试图走钢丝）。为什么公众要相信这些制造了不确定性的人，能成为收拾残局的人呢？

An alternative way to understand Microsoft’s missive is that it’s directed not at the new grads who are angry, but at the C-suite execs who are seeing these clips and rolling their eyes. In a post on X, Smith said the booing graduates are “reminding us that AI should serve people, not replace them.” That they needed reminding in the first place is the whole problem. 理解微软这封“信”的另一种方式是：它并非针对愤怒的毕业生，而是针对那些看到这些视频片段并翻白眼的高管们。史密斯在 X（原推特）上发文称，毕业生们的嘘声是在“提醒我们，AI 应该服务于人，而不是取代人”。而“他们竟然需要被提醒”这一点，恰恰就是问题的核心所在。