Screenshot via X
Audio By Carbonatix
For many college students, walking across the graduation stage to receive a diploma is a hallmark moment, a recognition of all the hard work they have put toward a degree. The graduates’ names boom out to the crowd, and just for a moment, the attention is all on them.
But on Friday afternoon, about one hundred Glendale Community College graduates nearly had that moment ripped away from them. Instead of following the time-worn tradition of having an announcer speak each name into a microphone, the school tasked an AI with reading the name of each graduating student as they walked across the stage.
Nearly an hour into the school’s commencement ceremony, it came to a halt due to an apparent — and perhaps predictable — technical difficulty. Dozens of students’ names weren’t called as they walked the stage. Six minutes into the pause, GCC President Tiffany Hernandez approached the podium to address the situation.
“We’re using a new AI system as our reader,” she said with a smile as students began to boo. “That is a lesson learned for us.” Hernandez then attempted to paint a silver lining on the SNAFU. “What we were able to do, though, is that each of you were able to walk the stage and get a picture, which is what I would hope would be the most meaningful.”
The graduating class continued to boo as Hernandez shared that students who walked but weren’t announced would not be able to walk the stage a second time. “You’ve handed over your cards,” Hernandez said, scrunching her nose. “So we won’t be able to do that.” She finished with an apology.
“I’m so sorry,” Hernandez said. “There’s plenty of opportunities, I hope, to take some really good pictures and to celebrate you with your loved ones as well.”
A few minutes later, Hernandez course-corrected. Addressing the crowd, she said, “For those who are standing and would like your names read as you walk the stage, we’re happy to do that.” This time around, the graduates gave their names to a real person, who then read them over the loudspeaker.
The video of the school’s screw-up has gone viral, already inspiring thinkpieces about AI inaccuracies and tech.
In a statement provided to New Times from the Maricopa County Community College District, which oversees Glendale Community College, district spokesperson Lindsey Wilson apologized for the disruption the AI mistake caused “during what should have been a celebratory moment for our graduates and their families. We have also communicated directly with graduates to apologize for the experience.”
“We are incredibly proud of all our graduates and are taking steps to ensure an issue like this does not occur again,” Wilson added. She declined to name the AI vendor and said the college is “actively reviewing the specifics of what occurred.” Additionally, the college is also reviewing “future commencement processes and will take steps to ensure an issue like this does not happen again.”
She did not say why Glendale Community College thought the simple job of reading names over a speaker needed to be outsourced to a robot. GCC did not respond to New Times’ request for comment.
Despite the apology, the video quickly garnered widespread attention and backlash online. Social media users slammed the AI usage as a “cheap ass move” and a “prime example of people trying to use AI for tasks that don’t have to be automated,” resulting in hundreds of students being “skipped like they don’t exist.”
Users also criticized the school for using AI during an important moment for graduates, even as it generally bans students from using it in their schoolwork. “Peak laziness,” one user wrote. (The Maricopa County Community Colleges District says individual professors can set their own policies about AI usage by students.)
“They could have grabbed a child from the audience that could’ve done a better job,” another added. Asked another: “We’re trusting it with jobs, essays, and driving cars but it can’t read a list?”
