Why Students and Employees Fear for the Worst
We recently concluded the commencement season and one thing we learned is that students are not embracing the growing trend of AI in the workplace and fear they may lose job opportunities. I address this issue in today’s blog as well as why the use of AI raises questions about ethics in the workplace.
Mitigating ethical issues may make the use of AI in the workplace more palatable. We could characterize what has occurred during the commencement season as a “cautionary tale,” one that can be used to spread awareness of moral issues.
Commencement Speakers
Commencement speakers at the University of Arizona and elsewhere were met with boos when they mentioned AI. As reported in a posting on the Inside Higher Education, “students have balked as commencement speakers have either told them to embrace AI, or have otherwise mentioned the ever-expanding role of the technology in a speech.”
This has occurred before. The graduating class at Middle Tennessee State University reacted similarly when Scott Borchetta, CEO at Big Machine Records, said, “AI is rewriting production as we sit here.” When students began to express their dislike for the message, the speaker pushed back, saying, “Deal with it. Like I said, it’s a tool.”
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt was booed when he brought up AI during his speech at the University of Arizona. As soon as he mentioned “AI,” the crowd erupted, but he pressed on, attempting to make his point over the persistent boos. “It will touch every profession, every classroom, every hospital, every laboratory, every person, and every relationship you have,” Schmidt said. “I know what many of you are feeling about that.”
Students and Job Opportunities in the Era of AI
It seems clear that a lot of students in the graduating classes of 2026 don’t want to hear about AI given that the job market for new grads is tough and many likely believe that AI is at least one factor. Still, it is a technology that affects workplace decision-making—and growing by leaps and bounds—and there’s nothing to do but learn to work with. Students need to learn how to embrace the benefits of using AI and deal with possible negative consequences of its application in the workplace.
Gen Z’s distaste for AI can be seen in new research from “GoTo”, which specializes in cloud-based business communication, IT management, and remote support software. Gen Z workers, more than other generations, largely feel that AI is making them dumber. Close to half (46 percent) of Gen Zeers felt this way, compared with 39 percent of workers overall. This seems unsupportable, and it’s worth mentioning that students still need critical thinking skills to apply AI when ethical dilemmas exist.
Colleen Flaherty hits the nail on the head when she says: “This commencement season saw denunciations of multiple campus speakers telling graduates about their artificial intelligence–mediated futures. To some observers, the boos didn’t make sense: How could college students—many of whom are AI power users themselves—not want to hear about the technology reshaping the world?
Ethics & AI in the Workplace
Understanding how ethical issues affect a business’ day-to-day operations, such as privacy-related issues, in addition to the broader implications of AI on the economy, the workforce, and the environment, will enable future business leaders to make informed and balanced decisions. Leaders are facing a host of challenges when it comes to managing AI data and privacy, biases, transparency issues, and more.
Michael Impink, instructor of AI Ethics in Business at Harvard DCE’s Professional and Executive Development division, suggests that executives and business leaders can meet the challenges of ethics in the workplace. “For leaders, awareness is the number one step,” Impink says. “Once leaders know where ethical AI issues might exist, they can begin to generate solutions. AI is idiosyncratic to what you want it to do, so there’s no one-size-fits-all approach,” he adds. “Understanding the main ethical challenges AI presents — and creatively generating solutions — is mandatory for the leaders of tomorrow.”
Corporate Governance
I have previously blogged about corporate governance issues and AI. Corporate governance is essential to develop and enforce policies, procedures and standards in AI systems. Chief ethics and compliance officers have a key role to play, including identifying ethical risks, managing those risks and ensuring compliance with standards.
Governance structures and processes should be implemented to manage and monitor the organization’s AI activities. The goal is to promote transparency and accountability while ensuring compliance with regulations and that ethical standards are met.
A research study by Genesys found that more than one-half of those surveyed say their companies do not currently have a written policy on the ethical use of AI, although 21 percent expressed a definite concern that their companies could use AI in an ethical manner. The survey included 1,103 employers and 4,207 employees regarding the current and future effects of AI on their workplaces. The 5,310 participants were drawn from six countries: the U.S., Germany, the U.K., Japan, Australia and New Zealand. Additional results include:
- 28 percent of employers are apprehensive that their companies could face future liability for an unforeseen use of AI.
- 23 percent say there is currently a written corporate policy on the ethical use of AI.
- 40 percent of employers without a written AI ethics policy believe their companies should have one.
- 54 percent of employees believe their companies should have one.
The ethical use of AI should be addressed by all organizations to build trust into the system and satisfy the needs of stakeholders for accurate and reliable information. Businesses have a responsibility to inform employees of the ethical issues and how they will be dealt with, including workforce challenges. Most important, top management should assuage the fears students and employees have about their job security. This is essential if AI is to flourish, as it must, to embrace the technological changes they are, for sure, only going to be more pronounced in the future.
Blog posted by Steven Mintz, PhD, professor emeritus Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and June 18, 2026. Visit Steve’s website to learn more about his activities.