MTSU Seniors Boo Scott Borchetta Over AI Praise at May 10 Commencement
Updated
Updated · stereogum.com · May 20
MTSU Seniors Boo Scott Borchetta Over AI Praise at May 10 Commencement
9 articles · Updated · stereogum.com · May 20
May 10 graduates at Middle Tennessee State University booed music executive Scott Borchetta after he said, “AI is rewriting production as we sit here” during his commencement speech.
Borchetta, founder of Big Machine Label Group and namesake of MTSU’s media and entertainment college, pushed back from the podium with “Deal with it” and “You can hear me now, or you can pay me later.”
The backlash fit a broader commencement-season pattern in which Class of 2026 students have jeered speakers who frame AI as opportunity rather than a threat to creative and entry-level work.
Recent examples cited include Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon at Wharton, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, real estate executive Gloria Caulfield at UCF and CalArts president Ravi Ranjan.
With students changing majors due to AI, is the value of a traditional college degree fundamentally changing?
Why do corporate leaders see AI as an opportunity, while the generation entering the workforce sees it as a threat?