Steve Wozniak Delivers AI Joke to Win Over Graduates

(AsiaGameHub) –   Steve Wozniak was able to address AI during a commencement ceremony without losing his audience’s engagement. On May 2 at Grand Valley State University, the Apple co-founder leveraged the topic to share a straightforward message about people, intelligence, and life outside of tech industry hype.

Good to Know

• Steve Wozniak delivered a speech at Grand Valley State University on May 2.
• His comment on AI earned applause rather than boos.
• Other commencement speakers have faced student pushback following their praise of AI.

Wozniak Shifts AI Hype to Center on Human Moments

Recent commencement speeches focused on AI have not been warmly received by graduates. Multiple ceremony audiences have pushed back against speakers who framed artificial intelligence as the next transformative force in work, education, and daily life.

Steve Wozniak took a distinct approach. Rather than praising large language models or advocating for a future governed by machines, he used AI as a lead-in for his remarks.

“AI is the big term today,” the Apple co-founder noted during his address at Grand Valley State University. “[It would] take an hour to talk about AI fully, but you all have AI!”

Then came the punchline.

“You all have AI,” he repeated, “actual intelligence!”

The remark landed well. Applause erupted, and Wozniak used the moment to joke about the tech industry’s long-running effort to create something resembling a human brain.

“My entire life in the technical world, I’ve been following people that were trying to figure out how to make a brain,” the Apple co-founder shared. “Software or hardware?”

He continued the joke with a quip that drew laughter from the audience.

“I was at a company where the engineers figured out how to make a brain,” the Apple co-founder added, “It takes nine months.”

This reaction highlighted how distinct his framing was from typical AI-focused remarks. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt faced boos during a commencement speech after praising AI’s potential to transform daily life. A separate speaker, a real estate executive, was also heckled after referring to AI as “the next industrial revolution.”

Wozniak did not disregard technology entirely. Instead, he declined to frame the speech around tools rather than people. Toward the end of his address, he reminded graduates that their most vivid memories would stem from shared life experiences, not formulas or classroom lessons.

“The day you die,” he went on to say, “you’re not gonna remember things you learned in your class, formulas and all that, what you’re gonna remember is the good times you had doing things with other people, enjoying anything in life.”

For a speaker recognized as one of the most beloved figures in computing history, this message resonated because it felt straightforward and sincere. AI served as the opening hook, but the audience took away the human-centered message.