Chieng Issues Profanity-Laced Warning Against AI in Class Day Address

Chieng used his Wednesday address to issue a profanity-laced warning against relying too heavily on artificial intelligence, urging graduating seniors to preserve the habits of thought that AI can replace.

Chieng repeatedly framed AI as a threat to original work, arguing that technology can benefit only those who understand the fundamentals of their field.

“Getting an actual advantage from AI in the future will require minimum escape velocity of intelligence,” he said. “Everyone else who can’t match that is just going to get dumber.”

His remarks offered a sharp counterpoint to Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76’s Baccalaureate address one day earlier, where Garber struck a more measured tone on the technology.

Chieng said graduates should resist using AI to skip the process of learning, writing, or creating.

“The creating is the fun part,” he said. “The journey isn’t just how we acquire our skills. The journey is the point of all this.”

He closed by returning to the warning, telling seniors not to let AI “rob” them of their own thinking.

“For the love of God, help me destroy these machines first,” he said.