“舒适区就是天花板” “别把本质问题外包给机器” | 宁诺执行校长新生开学典礼致辞

今天，2026级新生开学典礼

执行校长乔纳森·加里波第教授

在典礼上致辞寄语新生

以下是致辞全文：

下午好，热烈欢迎大家加入宁波诺丁汉大学。我是宁诺执行校长乔纳森·加里波第教授，很荣幸代表宁诺这个多元又充满活力的大家庭，向每一位新同学说一声：欢迎你们。

你们中有人跨越山海而来，也有人来自咫尺之间。无论从何处启程，你们都做了很棒的选择。

宁诺是一所非常特别的大学，坐落于宁波这座“智慧之城”（注：诺丁汉大学校训即为“城市建于智慧之上”）。数百年来，这里始终是人文与思想交汇之地。宁诺是一所真正国际化的高等学府，提供全面的通识教育，帮你为人生的下一篇章做好准备。

宁诺助你塑造未来，而非代你书写未来。机会在你自己手中，攥紧它！

舒适区，就是你的天花板

有人觉得，大学是多年苦读后的一场长假；也有人觉得，大学是另一场马拉松——永远赶不完的DDL（截止日期），永远追不完的目标。但我认为，这两种看法都没有触及大学生活的真正意义。

在我看来，大学是一间工坊，而你们就是那块可塑之材。待在舒适区，其实是最大的“坑”。如果你只和同一群人来往，重复同样的日常，选最稳妥的课——没错，毕业时你可能会拿到一纸文凭，却没有真正的成长。

成长，恰恰就发生在不舒服的边缘。所以，我想在此给你们一个挑战：去选有难度的课，去加入一个谁都不认识的社团，去倾听那些与你不同的声音。教育的生命力，就在那里。

这不是让你把自己卷到耗尽，而是期望你真正觉醒。别因为求稳而浪费大学的大好时光：希望你们都选择成长。

超越算法

说到未知，我想聊聊我的老本行——人工智能。

1990年，我拿到了人工智能的硕士学位，那时几乎没人知道AI是什么。但35年后的今天，它已无处不在。

AI能写文章、写代码、分析海量信息。善加利用，它是一件了不起的工具。但它没有共情能力，不承担道德责任，也无法像我们一样体悟生命。它的答案，替代不了你的独立判断。

宁诺教育要培养的，恰恰是AI不具备的品质。别把那些关乎本质的问题外包给机器，使用AI，同时质疑它、挑战它。你的思考、创造与抉择，责任终究在你。正是这些品质，才让你弥足珍贵、不可替代。

跟随好奇心，而不只是计划

最后，分享一些我个人的观察。

我的第一个学位是物理学。毕业那年，如果有人问我未来想走什么样的路，我绝想不到自己会站在大学讲台。后来我学AI，纯粹出于好奇。这份好奇心，带着我做过软件工程师、读完硕士、又读了博士——其实当时我都不确定自己真想读博。

我从来没有一份完美的五年计划。我只是努力把手头每一件事做好，然后跟着真正让我感兴趣的方向走。计划固然有用，但千万别让计划成为你的牢笼。当下的你，不必拿出一份完美的人生方案。

把今天过好，明天自有答案。希望大家都活在当下，大胆尝试，接纳失败，收获成长。追随你的好奇心，做好手头的事，你终将抵达一个不虚此行的地方——一个你从未预象过的远方。

此刻你们坐在这里，毕业离校的日子看似遥遥无期；但相信我，当那一天真的到来，你们定会惊叹时光飞逝。

所以，尽情享受这个过程吧！它不是成功路上的弯路，旅程本身，即是目的地。欢迎来到宁诺。愿大家勇敢一点、好奇一点。这段旅程，由你主宰。

谢谢大家。

Speech at the 2026 New Student Welcome Ceremony

Good morning/afternoon and a warm welcome to the University of Nottingham Ningbo China. I am Professor Jon Garibaldi, the Provost of UNNC. It is my pleasure to extend our greetings to each of you, on behalf of our diverse and dynamic community.

Some of you have travelled thousands of miles; others have come from just down the road. Wherever you started, you have all made an excellent choice.

UNNC is a very special university in Ningbo China — “a city built on wisdom” — where people and ideas have met for centuries. We are a truly international institution, offering you a comprehensive education and preparing you for the next chapter in your life.

UNNC helps shape your future, but not “for you”; the opportunity is in your hands; own it.

Your comfort zone is your ceiling

Some of you may see university as a break after years of hard study. Others may see it as yet another marathon of constant deadlines and endless goals. In my opinion, neither view captures what university life is really about.

For me, it is a workshop, and you are the raw material. The greatest pitfall is staying comfortable. If you stick with the same people, the same routines, the safe modules, then you will graduate with a degree, but without real growth.

Growth lives at the edge of discomfort. So I challenge you: take a challenging module; join a society where you know no one; listen to voices different from your own. That is where education comes alive.

This is not about burning out. It is about waking up. Do not waste this opportunity by always playing safe: choose growth!

Beyond the algorithm

Speaking of the unknown, let me turn to my area — artificial intelligence.

I completed my master’s degree in AI in 1990, when very few people knew what it was. More than 35 years later, AI is everywhere.

AI can generate text, write code and analyse enormous amounts of information. Used wisely, it can be an extraordinary tool. But it does not possess empathy, assume moral responsibility or understand human experience as we do. Its answers are not a substitute for your judgement.

These qualities are precisely what a UNNC education is designed to develop. Do not outsource the “why” questions to a machine. Use AI, but you should question it; challenge it. You must remain responsible for what you think, create and decide. These qualities are what will make you valuable, and irreplaceably human.

Follow curiosity, not just a plan

Let me finish with some personal observations.

My first degree was in physics. If you had asked me at graduation where my life would lead, I would never have imagined that I would end up here. Later, I studied AI simply because I was curious, and that same curiosity led me through my experience as a software engineer, a master’s degree, and through to completing a PhD without being entirely certain that I wanted one.

I never had a perfect five-year plan. I have simply tried to do each task well and followed what genuinely interested me. Plans can be useful, but never let them become prisons. You don’t need to have a perfect plan right now.

If you do today’s work well, tomorrow will take care of itself. Be present. Try things. Fail sometimes. Learn every time. Follow your curiosity and do good work, and you may find yourself somewhere worthwhile — perhaps somewhere you never imagined.

Sitting here today, your graduation day and leaving UNNC may seem far distant; but, believe me, when you do arrive at that day, you will likely be amazed at how fast the time has passed.

So, relish and enjoy the process. It is not a detour from success; it is the destination itself. Welcome to UNNC. Be brave, be curious, and own your journey.

Thank you.

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