'Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary Warns Student Protesters Are 'Screwed'

Kevin O’Leary is seen at the Fox News Channel Studios on April 18, 2024 in New York City. O’Leary warned that pro-Palestinian student protesters are “screwed” due to AI background checks being used for employment.

Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary warned that pro-Palestinian student protesters may be “screwed” while applying to jobs in the future due to artificial intelligence (AI) background checks.

Higher education institutions have found themselves embroiled in the domestic debate over the war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Students have led protests against Israel’s response to the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack, raising concerns about the number of Palestinian civilians killed in the conflict.

Approximately 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage during Hamas’ attack. More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict, The Associated Press reported, citing local health officials, while more than 80 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been displaced.

The protests have sparked criticism from some Jewish leaders, who say they make Jewish and Israeli citizens feel at risk. Some critics also say some of these protests have veered into antisemitism.

In recent days, hundreds of protesters have been arrested amid clashes with law enforcement at colleges and universities across the United States, fueling discussions about what sorts of consequences protesters should face.

O’Leary, a businessman known for his role on the television show Shark Tank, warned that students could face long-term consequences for their actions in the protests due to the use of AI in hiring processes during an appearance on Fox News’ The Five on Wednesday.

“There’s plenty of consequences for all those people. Even an image that far away, AI can generate by the way the body moves. I can’t believe the stuff I find in background checks now. These people are screwed,” he said.

While student protests are nothing new, they are now being recorded on high-quality cameras, rather than 15mm film used to record protests during the 1960s and 1970s, that make it easier to recognize individuals participating in the protests.

If a potential employer finds footage of a person participating in illegal or otherwise potentially objectionable behavior during a protest, they may opt to hire other applicants, he said.

“Every single image, even at night now, goes into an AI generator and will tell you who that individual is,” he said.

O’Leary continued: “I hire people. I have a lot of companies. I’ve hired thousands of people. Within weeks, I’m going to be able when we’re doing your background check, I’m going to find this because it’s going to be in there on the dark web.”

Newsweek reached out to O’Leary for further comment on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

Colleges such as Columbia University, the University of California, Los Angeles and the University of Utah have seen police intervene in encampments erected by protesters, with these clashes at times turning violent. Critics of these protesters say they should not be blocking access to the university, while the proponents believe their convictions about the conflict warrant the protests.

Start your unlimited Newsweek trial