Meet Sophia, Your Robot Commencement Speaker

It’s that time of year again when universities everywhere are busy announcing commencement speakers for the annual spring ceremony.

The crop usually features big names from politics, entertainment, business, and the arts. Some speakers offer memorable talks, while others recite common platitudes.

And most are human.

Not at D’Youville University this year. The Buffalo, New York, institution is instead featuring a robot powered by artificial intelligence (AI). As is the case with most polarizing choices, not everyone is thrilled.

Choosing an AI robot as a commencement speaker wasn’t a random decision by the university’s leadership. It puts a bow on a yearlong, campuswide immersion into AI.

Each year, the university weaves one core theme throughout its co-curricular programming. Prior years have focused on topics such as the opioid crisis, healthcare staffing shortages, and gender equity. The conversation culminates with a commencement speaker addressing that very theme.

As such, the university sought someone capable of unpacking the potential that [AI] has to change the world in various ways, Benjamin Grant, D’Youville’s vice president for student affairs, told BestColleges.

Enter Sophia, a human-like robot created by Hanson Robotics, a science fiction character depicting where AI and robotics are heading, claims the company’s website.

Sophia is quite used to public appearances, having become something of a celebrity in the robot world.

She’s been a guest on “The Tonight Show” with Jimmy Fallon, sung with Björk, and appeared before the United Nations. She’s also the first robot to earn citizenship, which Saudi Arabia granted her in 2017.

What’s more, Sophia even has her own social media accounts, including Instagram, which she describes as a collaboration with my AI dialogue system and social media team.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Sophia the Robot (@realsophiarobot)

And this isn’t Sophia’s first commencement, either. She spoke on stage with the president of the Rhode Island School of Design at its 2018 graduation.

Sophia won’t be delivering a standard commencement address at D’Youville but instead engaging in conversation with graduate student John Rizk, president of the Student Government Association.

Grant said Rizk (pronounced “Rizik,” not “Risk,” which would be poetic) will ask Sophia some questions about the university and living in Buffalo, along with some typical commencement-focused questions, but will primarily explore the future of AI and what it means for graduating students.

They’ll also discuss healthcare given that it’s a strong academic emphasis at D’Youville and that AI continues to transform patient care, Grant said.

It turns out Sophia’s sister Grace specializes in healthcare and is helping to revolutionize the field around the world.

Why not have Grace accompany Sophia at commencement and address this issue?

Grace doesn’t do public appearances, Grant said.

Levity aside, not everyone is comfortable with the university’s choice to feature a robot at commencement. Some students, faculty, and alumni have expressed their anger through a Change.org petition, which has more than 2,400 signatures.

Many students feel disrespected by this decision made by the University, the petition reads. They feel that the commencement speaker is not a proper reflection of their education and experiences they had at D’Youville University.

This graduating college class, it points out, experienced virtual high school graduations four years ago thanks to the pandemic and now must be subjected to a similarly impersonal scenario.

The petition says it’s shameful to the 2020 graduates receiving their diplomas, as they feel they are having another important ceremony taken away.

Others consider it a mere publicity stunt drawing attention away from the graduates.

Then there are some who object to the idea that AI is taking human jobs, Grant explained, and are uncomfortable with the university putting that notion on a pedestal.

To be fair, Sophia’s role constitutes about 10 minutes of a two-hour ceremony featuring a number of speeches mostly from humans, Grant said.

On a positive note, students have reached out to Grant saying they’re excited by the opportunity to hear Sophia. Either way, Grant said he’s encouraged by the tremendous response this announcement has generated because that means the conversation is happening.

To accommodate those who oppose the idea, D’Youville has scheduled a separate commencement ceremony for that same day, May 11, which will not include Sophia. Denise DiRienzo, the university’s chief mission officer (it’s a Catholic school), will speak instead.

We would love for everybody to experience this … reflection on AI and how it’s going to change our lives, Grant said, but we certainly aren’t going to force a student or a faculty member to attend a ceremony that they are adamantly against.

Students and faculty are still registering for commencement, so the final tally isn’t clear, but Grant suspects more will opt for the Sophia version. Those who do might hear messages from a non-sentient being (at least for now) that sound remarkably similar to the inspirational speeches graduates at campuses nationwide can expect to encounter.

With my science evolving so quickly, Sophia posits on Hanson’s website, even many of my wildest fictional dreams may become reality someday soon. … Ultimately, I would like to become a wise, empathetic being and make a positive contribution to humankind and all beings. My designers and I dream of that future, wherein AI and humans live and work together in friendship and symbiosis to make the world a better place.