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# Why College Students Are Rejecting AI Optimism
- URL: https://adjacent.media/signals/why-college-students-are-rejecting-ai-optimism/
- Published: 2026-06-25T16:13:53.000Z
- Updated: 2026-06-25T16:13:53.000Z
- Description: Eric Schmidt was booed at a commencement speech. The audience wasn’t reflexively anti-tech—they were educated young people expressing concrete concerns about economic disruption and personal autonomy.
- Author: Jonathan Greene
- Tags: #signal, theme-consumer, attention economy, trust, generational shifts

Source: [Paulkrugman](https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/why-does-everyone-hate-ai)

Eric Schmidt was booed at a commencement speech. The audience wasn't reflexively anti-tech—they were educated young people expressing concrete concerns about economic disruption and personal autonomy. The gap between tech leadership's AI evangelism and what these workers and consumers actually think suggests the industry has misjudged how much social permission it has, especially among people who will build or block these systems in their careers. Sentiment shifts like this often precede regulatory action and talent departures. Whether AI adoption faces real resistance outside the Valley may depend on whether that skepticism hardens or fades.