“In this era of disruption, we all need a guiding light,” Aoun told the graduating students at Northeastern’s Fenway Park commencement celebrations. “You are Huskies for life and Northeastern will always be your home.”
“Your Northeastern education will help you navigate the AI revolution, its transformations and opportunities,” said President Joseph E. Aoun. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University
Your education provides you with profound strengths that transcend the AI era, Northeastern University President Joseph E. Aoun told graduates Sunday at their commencement ceremonies in venerable Fenway Park.
“In this era of disruption, we all need a guiding light,” Aoun told undergraduates seated before him for the afternoon ceremony. “Northeastern is more than a network. It is a steady constellation in the shifting skies.
“It will never fade with time or distance,” Aoun said. “It will always be here for you. You are Huskies for life and Northeastern will always be your home.”
Aoun confronted the uncertainty of the changing times with confidence — an approach that he urged his audiences to embrace, based on the investments each student has been making in themselves throughout their journeys at Northeastern.
“These are powerful learning experiences,” Aoun said of the graduating students’ travels, co-ops and entrepreneurial endeavors. “In today’s roller-coaster world, they are priceless.
“Artificial intelligence grows more powerful by the day,” Aoun continued. “Some experts say that it will have a bigger effect than electricity. Other experts say that it will disrupt or eliminate the overwhelming majority of jobs that are waiting for you.
“It may do both,” Aoun added. “Your Northeastern education will help you navigate the AI revolution, its transformations and opportunities.”
The four Cs
The bedrock of their Northeastern education is strengthened by what Aoun referred to as “the four Cs”:
Curiosity, which AI lacks. “Curiosity is the reason that the world spends billions of dollars on space exploration,” Aoun said. “It’s why some of you studied at our Marine Science Center, researching life in the oceans. It’s why you and your peers have traveled to 151 countries on Dialogues of Civilizations, co-ops and other global experiences.
“And it is why you signed up for a theater class even though you are a finance major. Your Northeastern experiences fueled your inherently human passion to learn.”
AI systems are not inherently curious, Aoun noted.
For incurious AI systems to try new things, Aoun said, they must be rewarded with something called an “exploration bonus.”
“The human mind doesn’t need an exploration bonus,” Aoun said. “We evolved to wonder. This exploration is the work of a lifetime. Let curiosity be your compass as you continue learning.”
Creativity, which AI can only mimic. “Human creativity is based on imagination,” Aoun said. “It is not restricted to existing data and replication. It shapes worlds that don’t exist.”
Aoun raised examples meant to encourage the creative desires of his audience.
“Unlike [Albert] Einstein, AI could not daydream its way into a new theory of space and time,” he said. “Before AI could generate a surreal image, [Salvador] Dalí had to paint a melting clock.
“Creativity moves the human spirit. It’s the interaction between creator and society that makes it meaningful.”
Context frames the environment for creators and society to interact, Aoun said.
“AI has no awareness of context,” he said. “It is locked in its data sets, while humans travel through the infinite contexts of life.
“Your Northeastern experiences have taught you an important lesson: When we learn about the world, we learn about ourselves. Experiential learning is your edge and natural state. It allows you to integrate your classroom and world experience, translating your passions into impact.”
Inspiring examples
Aoun deepened the appreciation of context by citing the examples of the undergraduate student speakers — of how Luke Brothers’ combined major enabled him to connect big companies with students to launch startups; of how Jizelle Dorego’s discovery of entrepreneurship led her to mentor dozens of female entrepreneurs around the Northeastern network; of how Daunte Pean’s Dialogue of Civilizations experience helped inspire him to volunteer with underrepresented children while tutoring fellow engineers.
Similar lessons were drawn from the experiences of the three student speakers at the morning graduate ceremony, when Aoun praised Isaiah Simpson for transforming his interest in mechanical design and 3-D printing to design a bionic arm for a disabled friend. In the same context, Aoun noted that Kushal Shankar had learned to navigate different worlds when he moved from his native India to earn a master’s degree at Khoury College of Computer Sciences. Aoun also detailed how Kaitlyn Gonyer’s interest in children’s health and wellness led to her work at the pediatric oncology department at Johns Hopkins Hospital.
Those stories transitioned Aoun to the last and most important of the four Cs: community.
“Curiosity, creativity and contextual agility can help us accomplish great things,” Aoun said. “Community is why we accomplish them.
“In a world so structured by data and design, human connection is a magical force. It is the essence of art and music.
“When we sing together … we create moments of community that machines will never comprehend. There is a reason that many voices lifted in harmony can bring down mighty walls. And why choral music can sound like an echo of the divine.”
Aoun cited Elliot Grainge, the speaker for the undergraduate commencement ceremony, as a first-generation college student “with the unique talent of spotting not what is, but what could be.”
Less than a decade since his graduation from Northeastern, Grainge had founded his own record label (10K Projects) which led last year to his current role as CEO of Atlantic Music Group, a 77-year-old powerhouse of the industry.
“Elliot embodies the lessons of my speech — an integration of the four Cs,” Aoun said. “His curiosity led him to explore the intersection of music and technology. He saw opportunity as a digital trailblazer. His contextual understanding of talent, technology and audiences made his company a global success.
“He is the architect of a new way of experiencing music. And his connection to community — well, that is why he is with us today.”
Earlier Sunday, Aoun invoked the power of human connection while referring to entrepreneur David Roux — the speaker at the graduate commencement ceremony — as “a brilliant investor” who has “launched companies and ventures that are household names.”
Roux’s sense of context goes beyond profit-and-loss statements, Aoun said.
“He is a visionary social entrepreneur,” Aoun said of Roux. “His social entrepreneurship does not yield returns that can be measured in balance sheets. Its benefits are far more enduring.”
Aoun explained that they first met when Roux and his wife, Barbara, were seeking a partner in their “boldest investment yet” — the Roux Institute in Maine powered by Northeastern.
“Dave understood the key to unlocking Maine’s human potential — and the potential in every region left out of the digital economy,” Aoun said. “The key is world-class graduate education in AI, in life sciences and in advanced technology.”
Unrelenting optimism
Aoun opened both of his speeches by recognizing the many mothers who were in attendance on Mother’s Day as well as David Madigan, who will be returning to the faculty when he steps down as provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at the end of June. He also recognized the loved ones, faculty and others who had helped the students pursue their journeys.
At the afternoon undergraduate ceremony, he offered a shout-out to the Golden Graduates who celebrated their own commencements 50 or more years ago.
“Golden Graduates, you are the stewards of this institution and your legacy continues to shape it,” Aoun said. “You exemplify the words of the Northeastern seal, those values illuminated by our student speakers — light, truth and courage.
“You represent the passing of the torch from one generation to the next, from the first Northeastern graduates 123 years ago to today. We are honored to have you with us.”
Aoun’s speech was focused with unrelenting optimism on a future to be carried forth by the Class of 2025.
“Sitting here today, your mind is probably buzzing with questions,” Aoun said Sunday afternoon. “What does the future hold? What shape will my life take? As humans we are always asking, ‘What next? What if?’
“And as imaginative thinkers and entrepreneurs, we ask: ‘Why not?’”
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