Graduates urged to adapt as AI advances

Graduates of The University of the West Indies must commit to lifelong learning if they are to remain relevant as technology reshapes industries, Chancellor Dr Dodridge Miller has said.

Delivering the keynote address at Saturday’s graduation ceremonies at the Cave Hill campus, Miller challenged the Class of 2026 to prepare for a world in which machines are increasingly capable of performing tasks traditionally undertaken by humans.

Speaking under the theme “Built to Adapt, Ready to Lead – The Spirit of a Generation Rising amid Unprecedented Times,” he said artificial intelligence, robotics, and biotechnology were transforming industries at an unprecedented pace.

Miller urged graduates to view technological change as an opportunity and supplement their academic foundations with new skills and adaptability.

“The question for a Caribbean graduate is no longer only, do we have a place in the global society? It is more appropriately, how do we keep that place and earn an even bigger one when machines can do so much of what we were trained to do? In other words, how do we remain relevant?” he asked.

He stressed that a degree was the beginning, not the end, of education, and encouraged graduates to preserve the human qualities that distinguish them from machines.

“Embrace technology but preserve your humanity. Artificial intelligence can process information, but it cannot replace wisdom. It can identify patterns, but it cannot feel compassion. It can calculate possibilities, but it cannot decide what we value.”

“As machines grow more capable, judgment, empathy, integrity, creativity become more valuable, not less.”

The chancellor also urged graduates to demonstrate resilience and character in the face of setbacks while ensuring Caribbean people remained represented on the global stage.

Saturday’s ceremonies saw 1 277 students graduate, including 921 undergraduates and 356 postgraduates.

Among the undergraduates, 125 earned first-class honours, up from last year. Four medical students received distinctions.

During the ceremony, honorary Doctor of Letters degrees were conferred on international hip-hop pioneer Doug E. Fresh and Reverend Dr Lucille Baird.

Known as the “Original Human Beatbox”, Doug E. Fresh was honoured for his influence on music and popular culture, as well as his advocacy for public health and education.

“We have done so much for so long with so little that we are now qualified to do anything with nothing,” he told those attending the morning ceremony.

“You are the greatest; you are the best, and don’t ever let anybody tell you no different and always go where you are celebrated, not tolerated,” the entertainer added, before performing one of his hits and dancing the “Dougie”, named after him.

During the evening ceremony, Baird was honoured for more than four decades of Christian ministry, humanitarian service, and community development.

The founder and senior pastor of Mount Zion Missions Barbados Foursquare Church has championed rehabilitation, mentorship, and outreach to vulnerable communities, including pioneering rehabilitation work at Glendairy Prison.

Reflecting on her work with young people in Gall Hill, Baird spoke about her calling to help tackle violence.

“[The Lord] said to me, ‘Where your tears fall, I’m sending you.’ So God said to me, ‘Go into Gall Hill and bring that violence to an end.’ I believe that when God speaks, it’s my job to obey.”

She urged people to use their talents and time to serve others, regardless of their social standing or academic achievements.

(SB)