University of Rhode Island students feel that the decision to use an AI voiceover to read graduates’ names during the December graduation ceremony is “disrespectful” and “offensive,” according to responses in a survey sent out by The Good Five Cent Cigar.
The Cigar conducted a survey on Monday asking students for their opinions on the university’s decision to use an AI reader for the graduation ceremony on Saturday. Twenty-one students responded. Twelve students indicated they were surprised by the university’s decision, and nine students were unaware that the university planned to use AI.
One responder wrote that the decision to use an AI reader is “a huge disrespect to the graduates and shows just how this university really does treat us like statistics when they need an award.” Another wrote that it’s “incredibly hypocritical for the school to prohibit students from using AI and then use it as a way out on the very last day of their academic career.”
“I think this throws dirt on all of the hard work and money students have put into getting their degree,” one comment read. “Having a human being read our names at graduation is the bare minimum respect shown from faculty to students. Using AI, the thing that has taken over our work, our jobs and our lives to award us with a degree it might one day take from us is a symbolic loss to the human race.”
“Inhumane, corner-cutting, [and] ignorant of the environmental impact of AI usage despite URI being a leading university in regards to studying and researching our environment,” another comment said.
None of the written comment responses The Cigar received were positive.
Universities are beginning to use AI for graduations more frequently. In May, Northeastern University partnered with a program called Tassel, an AI tool claiming to maximize efficiency and lower graduation costs, according to Boston.com.
Programs like Tassel are trained on pronunciation databases, which have over 100,000 syllabic pronunciations, according to their website. During registration, graduates enter their name into the program and can listen to the AI say it back. The graduate can then tweak the pronunciation until it is correct.
URI has and continues to expand its AI programs, like the URI AI Lab that is now a part of the larger Institute for AI and Computational Research. The IACR is a collaborative effort designed to support multidisciplinary computational research. URI recently held a Discovering AI@URI Day with Rhode Island Senator and Chair of the Rhode Island Senate Committee on Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technology Victoria Gu.
A URI official wrote that the decision was something requested by senior leadership to avoid mispronouncing students’ names in an email exchange, provided by Young Democratic Socialists of America member Aemilius Wolferseder. In the email, the official explained that students will be given a card that a member of their college’s faculty will scan. The official claimed that the AI reader sounds like a natural human voice and will sound the same.
When registering for the ceremony, graduates were required to enter their names into a program, listen to the playback and confirm the pronunciation was correct, according to the email.
Universities have come under fire in the past for mispronouncing graduates’ names. In 2024, Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia issued a public apology after graduates’ names were mispronounced throughout the graduation ceremony, according to CBSNews.
URI will review feedback from the December graduation ceremony to decide whether or not to continue using an AI reader, according to the email exchange.
