An AI announcer mispronounced and skipped names during a graduation

"Many schools have switched to these systems as a way to ensure names are being pronounced correctly, but during a recent livestream of a Glendale Community College commencement ceremony in Phoenix, Arizona, the AI announcer mispronounced some names and skipped others entirely as a result of timing issues as graduates walked across the stage."

"The ceremony was paused at least twice in an attempt to fix the issues, while the college's president, Tiffany Hernandez, apologized and explained to those in attendance that the AI name-reading tool was to blame for the hiccups. During the ceremony she also told the graduates affected by the issues that they would not be able to walk across the stage again, but after backlash, those graduates were eventually given a do-over with an actual human reading their names aloud."

"The selling point of these AI tools, including a popular platform called Tassel, is accuracy; they're an attempt to ensure the payoff for years of hard work goes perfectly for graduates when they finally receive their diploma on stage in front of friends and family. Tassel not only allows students to confirm how their names are pronounced and displayed, it also generates AI-powered previews so corrections can be made before the ceremony."

"Tassel's announcements are AI-generated from a model trained on voice actors so they sound natural and professional, but that approach can still make an important moment feel impersonal and automated. Other tools, such as StageClip's NameCheck, share correct pronunciations with a human announcer so they can practice them ahead of time."

AI-powered systems are increasingly used to announce students during graduation and commencement ceremonies to improve pronunciation accuracy. A Glendale Community College ceremony in Phoenix used an AI name-reading tool that mispronounced some names and skipped others as graduates crossed the stage. The ceremony was paused multiple times to address the problems. The college president apologized and explained that the AI tool caused the interruptions. Graduates affected by the issues were initially told they would not walk again, but backlash led to a do-over with a human announcer reading their names. Tools like Tassel offer name confirmation, display previews, and AI-generated announcements, while alternatives like StageClip’s NameCheck provide correct pronunciations to a human announcer for practice.

Read at The Verge