“It is 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, dedication, and perseverance you have shown to get here. You have spent countless hours studying, writing papers, completing assignments, and attending classes. You have faced challenges and obstacles along the way, but you have persevered and overcome them, and….”

OK, cut. Time out.

By a show of hands, how many of you think I wrote the five sentences I just spoke?

I didn’t. ChatGPT did. I asked the bot to compose a 1000-word inspirational commencement speech for a university president to give to graduating college seniors.

Before you all line up to report me to Dean Zia for violating the academic code of conduct, consider another question: Would you prefer that I continue with the ChatGPT speech or with something I wrote my very own self?

I hope the latter. Because the ChatGPT speech is complete drivel. It’s a distillation of the most predictable and cliché sentiments that are included in commencement speeches. It is boring, bland and completely forgettable.

Perhaps I could have improved it, by asking ChatGPT to include references to Providence, the Open Curriculum, or to how Brown students are the architects of their own educations.

But it would still have been inauthentic. It wouldn’t have reflected anything about this graduating class—the great Brown University Class of 2023—or the experiences we’ve shared over the past four years. It would convey nothing about how I genuinely feel about all of you.

Humans want and need authentic connections with other humans.

You know this better than anyone else. In the spring of 2020, the personal connections you had just forged with friends and faculty members during your first year at Brown were abruptly interrupted.

I, for one, will never forget the day when all of you were told that you had to pack up your things and leave Brown. There was a surreal quality to those last few days on campus. 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 days of spring as Brown students always do, packing up and saying goodbye.

There was a sense of nervousness on campus. No one knew how long whatever was about to happen would actually last. And then we all entered a bizarre world where we spoke to our friends and loved ones through the interface of small boxes on computer screens, for what seemed like an eternity. And when you finally returned to campus, you had to wait in line 6 feet apart, to pick up food from the Ratty. And sit 6 feet apart in classes, masks on. 

Definitely. Not. Normal.

And then…finally…it was over.

What I have seen and felt from you over the last few years as we’ve transitioned out of the pandemic—and especially this year—was the pure joy you find in authentically being together in person. Learning, debating, playing sports, performing, volunteering, building lifelong friendships – and doing all of this with unbridled passion, kindness, exuberance and authenticity.

So, yes, authenticity matters.

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. Am I real?

But seriously, there are very critical challenges ahead.

We are entering a world in which electronic surveillance will become increasingly sophisticated, raising complicated ethical questions and threatening our personal liberty—the ability to go about our lives in complete freedom.

We are entering a world in which it’s increasingly difficult to learn the truth about candidates for public office—something that’s critical for the future of democracy.

We are entering a world in which technological advances will make many human skills obsolete, threatening to displace workers and create new divides between rich and poor.

At the same time, we have the potential to leverage the power of technology—including ChatGPT and its successors, and many other technological advances, for good.

We can bring health care to people in the most remote parts of the planet.

We can educate children who lack access to great 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.

Your generation has the profound responsibility of ensuring that technology is harnessed to make the world better, and preventing the doomsday outcomes from becoming reality. This will require leadership, technical knowledge, creativity, and collaboration.

Perhaps most important, it will 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, 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.

• Helping a student figure out whether to take the riskier option of starting a venture, or going to a job in a consulting firm.
• 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!
• 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 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 look forward to your lives ahead.

The connections you have made at Brown are authentic and real—and could never meaningfully be replicated by ChatGPT. Your Brown experiences are yours and yours alone. They will be part of you forever.

You’ll go on to forge new human connections, mindful of what’s real and what’s fake. And I know that you’ll go on to do 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 hopes for your lives ahead—from me to you.

And, now, would you like to receive your degrees?