Delta CEO Ed Bastian Says He Rejected AI-Generated Draft and Wrote Emory Commencement Speech by Hand

Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian told Emory University graduates on Monday that he had asked artificial intelligence to prepare his commencement address but discarded the result because it lacked soul and warmth. Bastian, 68, said he was amazed at how quick and easy the AI-generated draft was to produce. "But I also noticed the lack of soul nor warmth it conveyed," he told the audience.

"It was not my personal voice, and it did not express my genuine appreciation for the opportunity to impart my insights to thousands of you. " The chief executive threw away the AI draft and wrote the speech himself by hand with pencil and paper. "So don’t worry, I threw it away and took pencil to paper," Bastian said, drawing applause from the crowd.

Bastian, who is CEO of the carrier with a market capitalization north of $45 billion, used the speech to stress the importance of personal authenticity. "The most important asset that you have is your good name. It’s your brand.

It’s what you stand for. And there’s only one person that can take that away from you. That person is you," he said. He told the graduates that character is revealed in difficult times rather than easy ones.

"Character isn’t revealed when life is easy. Character is revealed when times and decisions are hard. Many times, doing the right thing comes at a cost. But I always prefer to think of it as an investment, a smart investment," Bastian said.

Bastian said he has had many important decisions to make over the course of his career and that taking a shortcut or pushing the easy button can be tempting but never yields an enduring result. He began his career as an auditor at Price Waterhouse, now PwC, before working at PepsiCo.

He joined Delta in 1998 as a vice president of finance, was named CFO by 2005 and was elevated to CEO a decade later.

The executive told Fortune’s Editor-in-Chief Alyson Shontell earlier this year that his best advice is to make certain that you’re taking care of the people that got you there. Speaking on the Titans and Disruptors of Industry podcast, Bastian said leadership is often framed around confidence, drive, energy and vision but those traits only go so far without interpersonal grounding.

"There’s also a really important attribute, and that’s humility with the willingness to actually listen more than you talk, to be able to make certain that you have an appreciation for what people do, to relate to the people," he said.

Bastian echoed a similar message in his remarks to graduates, arguing that curiosity, humility, gratitude and grace matter just as much as technical expertise. He told the class of 2026 that he has learned more from his failures than his successes have ever taught him. "That’s where real learning occurs and confidence is born.

So don’t be afraid to take that shot and bet on yourself," Bastian said. @FortuneMagazine reported that as the class of 2026 walks across the stage this graduation season, artificial intelligence remains a central topic, promising innovation while raising questions among young people about career prospects.

Bastian’s decision to scrap the AI draft illustrated his view that the technology should enhance work rather than replace the human element.

The Fortune Workplace Innovation Summit is scheduled for May 19–20 in Atlanta.