COMMENTARY
At a graduation ceremony in the United States, a speaker described artificial intelligence as "the next industrial revolution". Instead of applause, she was met with loud boos from graduating students. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05-23/graduates-boo-ai-google-eric-schmidt-artificial-intelligence/106701510
According to Sydney Morning Herald columnist Tim Duggan and other media reports, the reaction stunned the speaker and highlighted a growing reality that many employers, educators and policymakers are only beginning to understand: a significant number of young people are becoming increasingly sceptical about artificial intelligence.
The backlash may seem surprising. After all, Generation Z grew up with smartphones, social media and digital technology. They are often portrayed as the generation most comfortable with rapid technological change.
Yet recent research suggests the opposite may be occurring when it comes to AI.
A survey in the United States found enthusiasm among young people aged 14 to 29 has fallen significantly over the past year, while feelings of anger and concern have increased.
The reasons are not difficult to understand. For previous generations, entry-level jobs provided the first rung on the career ladder. Junior accountants learned bookkeeping. Cadet journalists covered council meetings. Graduate lawyers reviewed documents. Trainee marketers wrote draft content. Young workers learned their trade by performing basic tasks before moving into more senior roles.
Today many of those same tasks are increasingly being performed by artificial intelligence. For young people entering the workforce, the concern is not simply that AI exists. It is that AI is eliminating many of the opportunities traditionally used to gain experience.
In regional communities such as the Hawkesbury, where young people already face challenges accessing local employment opportunities, the issue may be even more significant.
The region has long experienced a pattern where school leavers travel to Sydney, Parramatta or Penrith for work and study opportunities. If AI reduces the number of entry-level positions available across professional industries, the pathway from education to employment could become even narrower.
The concerns extend beyond employment. Teachers and universities continue to grapple with how AI should be used in education. Students are being told that AI tools are becoming essential workplace skills while simultaneously facing warnings about plagiarism and academic integrity.
Many young people are left asking a reasonable question: if artificial intelligence can complete assignments, write reports, generate code and produce content, what exactly is the value of the qualifications they are spending years obtaining?
None of this means AI is without benefits. Artificial intelligence is already helping businesses improve efficiency, assisting farmers with data analysis, supporting medical research and providing tools that many small businesses could never previously afford.
For regional communities facing labour shortages, AI may eventually help fill gaps in administration, customer service and technical support.
The challenge is ensuring the benefits are shared fairly. As Duggan argues, society cannot simply dismiss young people's concerns as resistance to progress. Nor can we pretend the technology is going away.
Instead, governments, educators and employers need to address the real issues being raised.
How do we create meaningful entry-level opportunities?
How do we ensure young workers still gain practical experience?
How do schools and universities adapt their teaching methods?
And how do we regulate technology moving at a pace few institutions can match?
These questions matter because today's graduates will live with the consequences far longer than the executives and politicians currently making decisions about AI adoption. The students who booed at that graduation ceremony may not have been rejecting technology itself.
They may simply have been expressing something many young Australians are beginning to feel: uncertainty about whether the future being built by artificial intelligence still has a place for them.
As the debate reaches Australia and communities such as the Hawkesbury, that is a conversation worth having.
This article was inspired by reporting by Tim Duggan published in The Sydney Morning Herald on 14 May 2026 and ABC News Dannielle Maguire.
AI EXPLAINER
Artificial intelligence, better known as AI, has quickly become one of the most discussed technologies in the world. It is changing workplaces, schools, businesses and governments. It is also raising questions about jobs, privacy, creativity and the future of work. But despite the attention, many people remain unsure what artificial intelligence actually is.
What Is Artificial Intelligence?
Artificial intelligence refers to computer systems that can perform tasks that normally require human intelligence.
These tasks include:
- Understanding language
- Recognising images
- Analysing information
- Making predictions
- Solving problems
- Generating text, images, music and computer code
Unlike traditional computer programs that simply follow a fixed set of instructions, modern AI systems learn patterns from enormous amounts of data.
When you ask ChatGPT a question, use Google search, receive a Netflix recommendation or ask your phone for directions, artificial intelligence is often working behind the scenes.
Is AI Actually Intelligent?
Not in the way humans are. Despite the name, artificial intelligence does not think, feel or understand the world as people do. Current AI systems are better described as highly sophisticated pattern-recognition tools.
They analyse vast quantities of information and predict the most likely answer, response or action based on what they have learned from previous examples. AI can write an essay, generate an image or answer a question, but it does not possess consciousness, emotions, personal experiences or common sense.
AI is a tool rather than a mind.
Why Has AI Advanced So Quickly?
Three factors have combined to drive the recent explosion in artificial intelligence. First, computers have become dramatically more powerful. Second, enormous quantities of digital data are now available for training AI systems. Third, researchers have developed new machine-learning techniques that allow computers to identify patterns at unprecedented scale.
The result is technology that can now perform tasks that would have seemed impossible only a decade ago.
Where Is AI Already Being Used?
Many people use artificial intelligence every day without realising it. AI is already helping:
- Farmers monitor crops and predict yields
- Doctors identify disease patterns
- Businesses automate paperwork
- Banks detect fraud
- Manufacturers improve efficiency
- Emergency services analyse risks
- Students access tutoring tools
- Journalists conduct research
In agriculture, which remains important to the Hawkesbury economy, AI is increasingly being used to monitor soil conditions, optimise irrigation and improve farm management.
Will AI Replace Jobs?
This is the question generating the most debate. Throughout history, new technologies have changed the nature of work.
The Industrial Revolution reduced demand for many forms of manual labour while creating entirely new industries.
Computers replaced many clerical tasks but created millions of jobs in technology and services.
Artificial intelligence appears likely to follow a similar pattern.
Some jobs and tasks will become automated. Others will change significantly. New occupations that do not yet exist are also likely to emerge.
The uncertainty lies in how quickly these changes will occur and whether workers can adapt fast enough.
What Are the Risks?
Experts have identified several challenges associated with artificial intelligence.
These include:
- Job displacement
- Privacy concerns
- Misinformation and fake content
- Bias in decision-making systems
- Cybersecurity risks
- Overreliance on automated systems
Many governments are now considering how AI should be regulated to ensure it remains safe, transparent and accountable.
What Does It Mean for the Hawkesbury?
Artificial intelligence is not a robot takeover, nor is it a magic solution to every problem. It is a powerful new tool that is likely to become as common as the internet, smartphones and personal computers.
Like every major technological change, it will create winners and losers, opportunities and challenges.
The communities that benefit most are likely to be those that understand the technology, prepare for change and ensure that innovation works for people rather than the other way around.
