Thank you Janet
So, by the authority vested in me by the charter of Brown University and the Board of Fellows of the Corporation
I hereby declare the 255th Commencement at Brown University, convened. Welcome
It's an honor to stand before you today as you reach the end
of one journey and prepare to embark on another.
First and foremost I want to congratulate you on your achievement.
Graduating from college is no small feat, and you should be proud of yourselves for
all the hard work and dedication and perseverance
you've shown to get here.
You have spent countless hours studying, writing papers,
completing assignments, attending classes.
You faced challenges and obstacles along the way, but you've persevered and
overcome them.
And okay, time out.
Cut.
I have a question for all of you.
By a show of hands, how many of you think I wrote the last five sentences I just said?
Put your hand up if you think I wrote them.
Put your hand up if you think I didn't write them.
Ok. This is a really smart group.
I didn't write them.
ChatGPT did.
I asked it to compose a 1,000‐word inspirational
commencement speech for a university president to give to graduating college seniors.
Now before you all line up to report me to Dean Zia for violating the
Code of conduct, consider another question: would you prefer that I continue with the
ChatGPT speech, or something I wrote my very own self?
I hope the latter, because I can tell you the ChatGPT speech is complete dribble.
It’s a distillation of the most predictable and cliché sentiments that are included in
commencement speeches.
It is boring, it is bland, it is completely forgettable.
Now I could have improved it.
I could have.
I could have asked it to include references to the open curriculum, or how Brown
students are the architects of their own educations.
Things that I could have found on line.
But even if I had, it still would have been inauthentic.
It wouldn't have reflected anything about this graduating class, this great Brown
University class of 2023.
And it wouldn't have reflected the experience that we've shared together over the last
four years.
And it would convey nothing about how I feel about you.
Humans want and need authentic connections with other humans.
And you know this better than just about anyone else, because in the spring of 2020, the
personal connections that you had just forged with friends and faculty members during
your first year at Brown were abruptly interrupted.
And I for one, I'll never forget the day when all of you were told you had to pack up your
things up your things and leave brown.
There was a surreal quality on the last few days of campus. I don't know if you felt it too.
On the main green, things looked and felt like a normal New England spring‐‐ a little
too cold for frisbee and shorts, in my opinion.
But there you were, just after enjoying those first few days of spring, packing up and
saying good‐bye.
And there was a sense of nervousness on campus.
No one knew however long whatever was about to happen would actually last.
And then we entered this bizarre world where we spoke on our friends and loved ones through
the interface of small boxes on computer screens for what seemed like an eternity.
When you finally returned to campus‐‐ or in some cases the Omni the Marriott‐‐
you had to wait in line six feet apart to pick
up your food from the ratty and six feet apart in
classes masks on.
Definitely not normal.
And then finally, almost magically, it was over.
And what I have seen and felt from you over the last few years as we've transitioned out
of the pandemic‐‐ especially this year‐‐ was just the pure joy of authentically being
together in person‐‐ learning, debating, playing sports, performing, volunteering,
doing things about with your friends for fun, and
doing all of this with unbridled passion and kindness and exuberance and authenticity
So, yes, authenticity really matters.
and in the coming years, I believe it will become increasingly
scarce, and at the same time, increasingly important as discerning truth from lies grows
more and more difficult.
How can you tell what’s real when misinformation runs rampant online, images are
altered, and voice recordings can be forged?
at the same time, i can’t even get a verified checkmark on my instagram.
So, am I real?
I don't know.
Seriously, there are very critical challenges ahead.
We are entering a world in which electronic surveillance will become increasingly
Sophisticated and it's going to raise really complex ethical issues, threatening our
personal liberty, possibly, the ability to go about our lives in complete freedom.
We are entering a world in which it’s increasingly difficult to
Find out the truth about candidates for public office and that's something that is so important
for the future of our democracy.
We are entering a world in which technological advances may make many human skills
obsolete, threatening to displace workers and create new divides between rich and poor.
Now, at the same time‐‐ and I'm no pessimist‐‐ we have the potential to leverage the
power of technology‐‐ ChatGPT, its successors, other forms of technology‐‐ that's
going to come.
We can leverage all that for the good.
we can bring health care to people in the most remote parts of the planet.
We can educate children who lack access to good schools.
We can raise standards of living around the globe so that parents are confident in their
ability to support their families, and so much more.
So your generation, you have a responsibility, a profound responsibility of ensuring that
technology is harnessed to make the world better, preventing the doomsday outcomes
that you hear from becoming reality.
And this is going to require leadership, and it's going to require technical knowledge
and creativity and collaboration
perhaps most important, it will very require that you bring a discerning humanistic lens
to everything you do.
you’ve learned so many things at brown, but never forget that your humanity is your
greatest asset.
It will help you accomplish
great things and I believe it will lead you to fulfilling and purposeful lives.
When I walk home from work each evening, I often ask myself, "what made today a good day?"
And inevitably my answers reflect authentic connections
With people, other people.
Helping a student Figure out whether to take the riskier option
of starting a Venture, going to a more secure job
sometimes with a little bit of parental pressure thrown into the mix,
Meeting with student activists in my office,
students with whom I deeply respect, even when I might disagree with their positions.
Being part of the crowd that celebrated the Brown women’s soccer team win another ivy
league championship!
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE )
Spending time with the family of a Brown student
who tragically passed away.
Hearing the warm reflections of an employee retiring after a 30‐year career at brown.
Seeing all of you have so much fun at campus dance.
And being here, today, with all of you and your families and friends, as you celebrate
your time at Brown and you look forward to your lives ahead.
The connections you have made at This university, they are authentic and real.
They can never be replicated by AI.
Your Brown experiences are yours and they are yours alone and they will be part of you
forever.
You’re going to forge new human connections, mindful of what’s real and what’s fake.
And i know that you’ll go on to do really great things.
I am so tremendously proud of all of you.
So on the day of your graduation, please accept my heartfelt, authentic congratulations
and all of my hope for your lives ahead, from CPAX to you.
( CHEERS AND APPLAUSE )