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𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐰𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐈?

If you’ve been watching the US commencement ceremonies over the last couple of weeks, a fascinating and telling trend has emerged.

High-profile speakers, including tech leaders and executives, have taken the podium to give the classic "embrace the future" speech. But the moment they mention how Artificial Intelligence is "rewriting production" or driving "the next Industrial Revolution," they aren't met with polite applause. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐞𝐝!!.

As professionals, leaders, and builders, it is easy for us to preach about "𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧," "𝐮𝐩𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠," 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐈 𝐚𝐬 "𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐥." But let's look at this from the perspective of a 22-year-old graduate entering the highest entry-level unemployment market we've seen in over a decade:
The mixed signal: For 4 years, these students were told that using AI was cheating, and they faced severe academic penalties if they did.

Now, at graduation, they are told their survival depends on it.
The entry-level squeeze: t𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡 𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐬, 𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐳𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐲-𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐟𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭, 𝐜𝐨𝐝𝐞, 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜, 𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐨.

Telling a room full of indebted, anxious graduates that "their replacement is scalable" or to just "deal with it" completely misses the human element of economic anxiety.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲?
𝐀𝐈 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐣𝐨𝐛 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞. 𝑊𝑒 𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑑𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑑𝑎𝑝𝑡. 𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑒𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑦? 𝑊𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑎 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑒ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑎𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑡.
When corporate and tech elites talk about the "incredible efficiency gains" of AI without acknowledging the very real disruption to entry-level livelihoods, a defensive reaction is entirely rational.

If we want the next generation to build the future with these tools, we have to start by validating their fears, not dismissively telling them to "suck it up."