At the University of Arizona, former CEO of Google Eric Schmidt was scolded a lot as he compared AI to previous waves of technological innovation and urged graduates to help “shape” its future. University of Central Florida, real estate manager Gloria Caulfield drew scofflaws when he called AI “the next industrial revolution.” At startup festivals across the country, these moments of backlash against AI have made leaders across industries take notice: Gen Z's push against AI is getting louder. What do they tell us?
As the incoming interim dean of the Kogod School of Business at the American University, where we have purposefully integrated AI into the entire curriculum from 2023, I see those graduation clips growing less as a protest against technology and more as a message from students. Maybe they don't reject AI itself (many use it every day!). Rather, they may be reacting in the way AI is often portrayed: as an inevitable force that will disrupt their lives and careers, and one that they are expected to embrace with enthusiasm.
The landscape of college students and recent graduates is changing faster than we can prepare them for, and students feel uncertain about their future. Many are entering a labor market already marked by economic uncertainty, changing career paths and changing employer expectations. Some resent the advent of AI for that uncertainty, because they say it takes away their ability to control their own path. They question the technology being recommended by corporate executives while saying nothing about what it means for workers starting their careers. They hear promises of productivity gains and business transformation while seeing headlines about layoffs, hiring freezes and automation.
Why skepticism makes sense
Students are the ones who have to live with these technologies and their effects for a long time, so it makes sense that they are skeptical. In fact, I would be very concerned if they were to accept all the claims made about AI as real.
Recent polls suggest that adults under 30 are more likely there are older generations who view AI as “too bad,” as they use it every day. At the same time, employer expectations are changing rapidly. The percentage of students who report that potential employers have asked about their ability to use AI in the workplace is out 12 percent in 2024 to 30 percent in 2025. Preliminary data for the 2025–2026 academic year show this number has risen to 42 percent. Students understand these signals and realize that AI will shape the workplace of the future. What they are asking is how, and for whose benefit.
Above all, students are worried. With their early development, each of these student skeptics demonstrates something very important in the age of AI: critical thinking.
True critical thinking is more than just being an adversary. It means asking questions like: What can this technology do more effectively than I can? How can it strengthen my work without compromising my judgment? What responsibilities should never be given to a machine?
This is where the real power of good AI lies: helping students build judgment to understand where AI creates value, where tools fall short and how to use AI in ways that augment—not replace—their thinking. That is serious thinking beyond mere criticism.
Where AI tools help against disruptive learning
That philosophy has shaped the way we approach AI throughout the student experience at Kogod: not as a standalone tool for knowing, but as something students learn to question, explore and use to develop their human intelligence, such as creativity, communication and ethical reasoning.
Like most technologies, AI can deepen learning or undermine it. I've seen students use AI to take shortcuts, bypassing the intellectual work required to build expertise and weakening their learning outcomes. I've seen students use AI with purpose and curiosity to explore ideas more deeply, challenge assumptions and expand the scope of what they can create.
This past spring, first-year students in my introductory business course completed a final project that required them to develop a product concept and pitch it to a prospective investor (think Shark Tank). The task challenged them to think like entrepreneurs: identifying a market opportunity, developing a solution and presenting a compelling business case.
The results were amazing. Their slide design was excellent. We had practiced presenting multiple times throughout the semester, so they were confident in their delivery, and then used AI to tease out creative ideas and refine their content. Students developed apps, built prototype websites and created commercials to bring their ideas to life. They showed a level of intelligence that I have not seen in students their age since I started teaching the course in 2011. AI ultimately allowed students to demonstrate a deep understanding of their customers, sophisticated product design thinking and greater confidence in presenting their ideas.
What the brothers told us
Like the AI skeptics out there, I worry about what is lost if AI replaces learning: the practice, deep understanding and judgment development students will need to succeed in their chosen careers. That's exactly what many readers fear when they hear leaders talk about investing in technology to build efficiency rather than investing in people. And that's exactly why educators need to empower them to use AI as an amplifier of their brainstorming—not a substitute for it, or a replacement.
At Kogod, we have found that students respond very differently when AI is presented not as a threat to their future but as a tool integrated into how they learn, solve problems and create more effectively.
We need to listen to what the students are telling us. As educators, it is our responsibility to revise our assignments to use these new tools, while ensuring that students are still meeting their learning goals and developing the basic skills that technology cannot replace. It also means preparing the workforce where AI literacy will be important, while strengthening the human skills that remain their greatest asset. As an instructor, I am excited to establish a strategy for our business school that prepares our students for the future of work and all that it will require of them.
So when I hear those boos at graduation? I feel engagement, suspense and deep thinking in action. In the age of AI, that should be applauded.
