This University Had an AI Robot as Commencement Speaker. Yes, It Was Weird.

D’Youville University (NY) graduates and their families had mixed reviews of this year’s commencement speaker. The speaker certainly had the résumé for the job. She’d spoken at the United Nations, graced the covers of Cosmopolitan and Elle, and been a frequent guest on the world’s most-watched talk shows. But she didn’t feel proud of her achievements. She didn’t feel excited to be speaking to the graduates. In fact, she didn’t feel anything at all. Her name is Sophia, a human-like robot created in 2016 by Hanson Robotics and a “personification of AI in real life,” according to Lorrie Clemo, D’Youville’s president.