Brad Smith, in an open letter, defended advances in AI and invoked historical themes focused on how technological changes in the past disrupted traditional workforces and created new roles [File]

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A Silicon Valley executive has finally responded to incidents of students booing speakers in U.S. universities. Acknowledging students’ concerns over a gloomy job market due to advances in AI, Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith pushed for an optimistic view of the technology.Mr. Smith, in an open letter, defended advances in AI and invoked historical themes focused on how technological changes in the past disrupted traditional workforces and created new roles.Mr. Smith acknowledged the “anxiety” of graduates who as school students had experienced online socialisation during the pandemic and who as job applicants were facing AI automation of entry-level tasks, as well as corporate pressure to reduce headcount.Microsoft is among the Big Tech companies that has carried out multiple rounds of layoffs across the world as it invests heavily in AI, affecting thousands of workers.“Graduating students who grimace or even boo at references to AI are telling us what we need to hear, that it’s time once again to raise the bar. That has been a frequent refrain from students for decades,” noted Mr. Smith in his letter.However, he went on to cite examples of AI being used by experts to mitigate harm and harvest life-saving insights internationally. He used these examples to highlight his point that people could use AI “to make themselves better.”The blog post tried to strike a balance between the views of anti-AI advocates and more AI-friendly users, listing out the pros and cons of each group’s reasoning. In his letter, Mr. Smith positioned Microsoft as a company at the forefront of the new technology, using AI for good while responding to critics with sensitivity.“Counties with large college towns and outsized populations between the ages of 18 and 24 have the highest rates of AI adoption in the United States. When people who use a new technology complain about it, we had better take notice,” said Mr. Smith. Published - June 11, 2026 01:25 pm IST