NYT Finds AI and Tough Job Market Dominated Dozens of 2026 Commencement Speeches

2 articles · Updated · The New York Times · May 21

Dozens of 2026 commencement speeches centered on graduates’ anxiety about artificial intelligence, a weak job market, political division and broader economic uncertainty, according to a New York Times review.
Speakers tried to answer that unease with a mix of reassurance, warnings and humor, framing this spring as an especially fraught moment for students entering adult life.
At Yale, author Min Jin Lee called graduates the “so-called anxious generation,” citing rising prices, climate change, war and disease as pressures shaping their outlook.
At NYU, psychologist Jonathan Haidt urged students to challenge ideas of their own vulnerability, even after student leaders protested his selection over his criticism of “cancel culture.”
The review said commencement tensions have built for years, with protests now common enough that some colleges prerecord and stream speeches to avoid disruptions.

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