{"id":117,"date":"2026-05-19T22:05:01","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T22:05:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\/?p=117"},"modified":"2026-05-19T22:05:01","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T22:05:01","slug":"glendale-community-college-used-ai-at-graduation-and-it-went-horribly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\/?p=117","title":{"rendered":"Glendale Community College used AI at graduation and it went horribly"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

For many college students, walking across the graduation stage to receive a diploma is a hallmark moment, a recognition of all the hard work they have put toward a degree. The graduates\u2019 names boom out to the crowd, and just for a moment, the attention is all on them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Witness: Locked gate at women\u2019s prison impeded inmate suicide response<\/a><\/p>\n

But on Friday afternoon, about one hundred Glendale Community College graduates nearly had that moment ripped away from them. Instead of following the time-worn tradition of having an announcer speak each name into a microphone, the school tasked an AI with reading the name of each graduating student as they walked across the stage.<\/p>\n

Nearly an hour into the school\u2019s commencement ceremony, it came to a halt due to an apparent \u2014 and perhaps predictable \u2014 technical difficulty. Dozens of students\u2019 names weren\u2019t called as they walked the stage. Six minutes into the pause, GCC President Tiffany Hernandez approached the podium to address the situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re using a new AI system as our reader,\u201d she said with a smile as students began to boo. \u201cThat is a lesson learned for us.\u201d Hernandez then attempted to paint a silver lining on the SNAFU. \u201cWhat we were able to do, though, is that each of you were able to walk the stage and get a picture, which is what I would hope would be the most meaningful.\u201d<\/p>\n

The graduating class continued to boo as Hernandez shared that students who walked but weren\u2019t announced would not be able to walk the stage a second time. \u201cYou\u2019ve handed over your cards,\u201d Hernandez said, scrunching her nose. \u201cSo we won\u2019t be able to do that.\u201d She finished with an apology.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so sorry,\u201d Hernandez said. \u201cThere\u2019s plenty of opportunities, I hope, to take some really good pictures and to celebrate you with your loved ones as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

A few minutes later, Hernandez course-corrected. Addressing the crowd, she said, \u201cFor those who are standing and would like your names read as you walk the stage, we\u2019re happy to do that.\u201d This time around, the graduates gave their names to a real person, who then read them over the loudspeaker.<\/p>\n

The video of the school\u2019s screw-up has gone viral, already inspiring thinkpieces about AI inaccuracies and tech.<\/p>\n

Read more There might be a \u2018super\u2019 El Ni\u00f1o this year. What would that mean for Phoenix?<\/a><\/p>\n

In a statement provided to New Times from the Maricopa County Community College District, which oversees Glendale Community College, district spokesperson Lindsey Wilson apologized for the disruption the AI mistake caused \u201cduring what should have been a celebratory moment for our graduates and their families. We have also communicated directly with graduates to apologize for the experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are incredibly proud of all our graduates and are taking steps to ensure an issue like this does not occur again,\u201d Wilson added. She declined to name the AI vendor and said the college is \u201cactively reviewing the specifics of what occurred.\u201d Additionally, the college is also reviewing \u201cfuture commencement processes and will take steps to ensure an issue like this does not happen again.\u201d<\/p>\n

She did not say why Glendale Community College thought the simple job of reading names over a speaker needed to be outsourced to a robot. GCC did not respond to New Times\u2019 request for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Despite the apology, the video quickly garnered widespread attention and backlash online. Social media users slammed the AI usage as a \u201ccheap ass move\u201d and a \u201cprime example of people trying to use AI for tasks that don\u2019t have to be automated,\u201d resulting in hundreds of students being \u201cskipped like they don\u2019t exist.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Users also criticized the school for using AI during an important moment for graduates, even as it generally bans students from using it in their schoolwork. \u201cPeak laziness,\u201d one user wrote. (The Maricopa County Community Colleges District says individual professors can set their own policies about AI usage by students.)<\/p>\n

\u201cThey could have grabbed a child from the audience that could\u2019ve done a better job,\u201d another added. Asked another: \u201cWe\u2019re trusting it with jobs, essays, and driving cars but it can\u2019t read a list?\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Whoa there! GOP bill would halt removal of Salt River horses<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Glendale Community College apologized to graduates after an AI agent it used to read names screwed them up and halted the whole ceremony.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":116,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education"],"yoast_head":"\nGlendale Community College used AI at graduation and it went horribly - Phoenix Relocation News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/phoenixrelocationnews.com\/?p=117\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Glendale Community College used AI at graduation and it went horribly - 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