OpenAI joins Arizona State University to use ChatGPT in classrooms

Arizona State University (ASU) and OpenAI are teaming up to introduce ChatGPT into ASU’s classrooms. ASU spilled the beans in a press release, highlighting their plan to leverage ChatGPT Enterprise in three key areas: boosting student success, exploring new paths for innovative research, and smoothing out organizational processes.

“Our faculty and staff were already using ChatGPT, and after the launch of ChatGPT Enterprise, which for us addressed a lot of the security concerns we had, we believed it made sense to connect with OpenAI,” ASU deputy chief information officer Kyle Bowen told The Verge.

Come February, the university is open for business, ready to hear project ideas from both faculty and students about how to roll out ChatGPT. Anne Jones, the vice provost for undergraduate education, spilled the beans in an interview, mentioning that some professors are already dabbling in generative AI for their classes.

For instance, there are composition classes using AI to spruce up writing, and journalism classes getting creative with AI platforms for multimedia storytelling. Jones even hinted at the possibility of chatbots stepping in as personalized tutors for ASU students.

According to Jones and Bowen, universities make for a real-world testing playground for plenty of generative AI experiments.

“Universities hope to foster critical thinking, so we never considered closing ourselves off from the technology. We want to help determine the conditions in which this technology can be used in education,” Jones said.

In the previous year, ASU kicked off an AI accelerator program, rounding up researchers and engineers to cook up AI-driven services. On top of that, the university rolled out prompt engineering classes to spread the word and boost AI literacy.

This marks the debut partnership between OpenAI and an educational institution. OpenAI has been gradually teaming up with more organizations in the public eye. They recently revealed a deal with the Pennsylvania state government, bringing ChatGPT Enterprise into the hands of certain state employees.