Ed Bastian said he was curious, so he asked AI to write his commencement speech.
He said he didn’t like the result.
During a May 11 speech to graduating students at Emory University, the Delta CEO said he prompted AI to churn out the script for his address — the result, he said, was “quick,” but lacked the required “soul or warmth.”
“You want to hear from me, not some algorithm of me,” he told the graduates. “So, don’t worry, I threw it away, and took pencil to paper.”
The audience applauded.
His remarks add to a growing debate among executives over where AI can save time — and what still demands a human voice.
Some tech leaders have aggressively pushed into AI as a work accelerant. For example, Boris Cherny, a lead engineer at Anthropic and the creator of Claude Code, has said he runs a “few thousand” agents each night to do analytical work. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has also said he is monitoring how much his highly paid engineers use AI.
Delta also has AI tools, though the airline has generally framed them as ways to improve the travel experience rather than replace its human workforce — including apps that offer packing guidance and notifications when a traveler’s passport is nearing expiration.
Bastian’s commencement anecdote drew a line around a different kind of task: one where speed mattered less than sounding human.
He used the moment to make a broader point about character and the temptation to reach for shortcuts when decisions get hard.
“Many times, doing the right thing comes at a cost,” he said. “I must admit, taking a shortcut or pushing the ‘easy button’ can sometimes be more tempting. But they never yield an enduring result or an effective solution.”
Delta declined to comment on this story.
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