What if AI helped write a commencement speech?
Imagine asking a computer program to help you write a commencement speech. Well, that's exactly what Prabu David, Vice Provost for Faculty and Academic Staff Development, Interim Associate Provost for Teaching and Learning Innovation and Dean of the College of Communication Arts and Sciences did at the ComArtSci 2023 commencement ceremony on May 5. He asked ChatGPT, a super intelligent computer program that has learned all the information available on the internet and can answer any question, to give him insights on what grace is all about.
What is Grace?
According to ChatGPT, “Grace is a quality that can be difficult to define but we all know it when we see it.” The Chatbot then showed Prabu David several influencers and social media celebrities who exemplify grace such as beauty and lifestyle influencers, fashionistas, branding, and expert marketing experts like the Kardashians and the Jenners. Prabu David realized that he actually needed more than just examples but an in-depth understanding of grace.
With some cajoling, ChatGPT offered Prabu David a brilliant definition of grace; it is the quality of being kind, forgiving, and compassionate. It encouraged the graduates to practice kindness, forgiveness, and compassion to make a positive impact in a polarized, dysfunctional, and fractured world.
Use your Secret Superpower: Communication
The graduates of ComArtSci have learned how to communicate effectively and are therefore encouraged to put it to good use. ChatGPT gave Prabu David an encouraging verse from the Scriptures which says, “Let your conversations be full of grace, seasoned with salt.” Prabu David encouraged the graduates to listen well and choose their words wisely when talking to others. He emphasized that their conversations filled with grace can be the balm in a polarized world. He advised them to seek out conversations that can have a lasting effect by being bold, creative, and caring in their choice of words.
Lessons to Take Away
Finally, Prabu David reminded the graduates that ChatGPT is the future and they must learn to coexist with AI — chatbots and robots that are coming for their jobs and are wickedly smart. He encouraged them to look at their everyday heroes as examples of grace. He shared that his everyday hero is his mom who, as a school teacher in a hot, humid, and bustling city of Chennai in South India, cared for kids from poor fishing families. He told stories of how she carried herself with grace, making many sacrifices for their family and reminding him of the power of kind words.
Prabu David's speech emphasized that using their secret superpower, communication, is a recipe for success in a world that is in desperate need of grace. The graduates of ComArtSci can indeed make a positive impact in the world if they practice kindness, forgiveness, and compassion in their conversations.
