NTU's AI Ambassador Hailey Sparks Backlash at Convocation Ceremony

Most graduates expect a handshake, a photo, and a moment of recognition when they cross the convocation stage. What they got at Nanyang Technological University this week was something else entirely — a hyper-realistic AI-generated face beaming at them from the screens, and the reaction was swift.

A TikTok clip posted by user dalgomi on July 23 shows the convocation audience at NTU visibly taken aback as screens displayed Hailey, the university's GenAI ambassador, strolling across the stage with a smile. In the caption, the user wrote: "You could tell the audience was shocked." The video quickly drew hundreds of comments, many critical of the decision to use an AI persona at what is traditionally one of the most human moments in academic life.

"Imagine what should be your proudest moment of university, yet they congratulate you with AI," one commenter wrote. Another quipped: "Your lecturer can use AI, but you can't" — a pointed reference to the double standard students often feel when institutions promote AI tools while restricting student use of the same technology.

NTU launched Hailey earlier this year as the face of its generative AI outreach — a GenAI ambassador designed to showcase the university's embrace of artificial intelligence. She appeared on the cover of NTU's HEY! magazine special AI issue and has been promoted across the university's digital channels. But placing her front and centre at a convocation ceremony appears to have crossed a line for many students and families, who saw the moment as tone-deaf rather than innovative.

The backlash comes as Singapore grapples with the real human tensions around AI adoption. A ManpowerGroup survey published earlier this year found 58 per cent of Singapore workers worry AI could replace them within two years. At NTU, those anxieties now have a very literal face — and the campus conversation about where AI belongs, and where it doesn't, is only getting louder.

Why it matters for Singapore: The Hailey backlash is a microcosm of a broader challenge facing Singapore's AI push. As institutions race to demonstrate AI adoption, they're learning that the public's comfort with AI depends heavily on context and emotional intelligence. For Singapore to succeed as a Smart Nation, it needs to navigate not just the technical implementation of AI, but the very human reactions it provokes — especially when those reactions come from the graduates who will build the next wave of technology.