SACRAMENTO, Calif. – On Tuesday, the California State University system announced a public-private initiative to integrate Artificial Intelligence (AI) into the largest four-year university system in the country.
“We are proud to announce this innovative, highly collaborative public-private initiative that will position the CSU as a global leader among higher education systems in the impactful, responsible and equitable adoption of artificial intelligence,” said CSU Chancellor Mildred García. “The comprehensive strategy will elevate our students’ educational experience across all fields of study, empower our faculty’s teaching and research, and help provide the highly educated workforce that will drive California’s future AI-driven economy.”
The initiative includes tech companies such as Adobe, Alphabet, AWS, IBM, Instructure, Intel, LinkedIn, Microsoft, NVIDIA, and OpenAI stated a press release from the California State University system Tuesday.
“This is an inspiring example of education, private industry and government coming together to implement a bold solution that ensures students are prepared for the workforce in California and nationwide,” stated Melissa Loble, Chief Academic Officer at Instructure. “By leveraging experiential learning and innovative teaching and learning practices, this initiative will be a model for other education systems and states looking to ensure future generations are AI-ready and empowered.”
The California State University system’s adoption of AI technologies will make learning and teaching tools, training programs, and generative AI programs -such as ChatGPT- available at all 23 campuses.
According to Tuesday’s press release, the California State University system expects the new partnership tools to be available to the 460,000 students and 63,000 faculty and staff members in their system within the next few weeks.
Key strategic initiatives detailed Tuesday include:
- Creation of a dedicated AI Commons Hub that will offer AI tools and training programs as well as certifications for all students, faculty, and staff at no cost
- Faculty-specific AI educational innovations to develop new teaching methods, address concerns about AI adoption, and foster research
- Workforce training through apprenticeship programs within the technology sector
“A rapidly growing creator economy and breakthrough AI technologies have increased the demand for AI literacy and creative skills across all industries. In California alone, the creator economy employs more than 800,000 people, or 4.6% of the state’s workforce, and supports nearly 875,00 local service jobs,” explained Brian Johnsrud, Director of Education, Learning and Advocacy at Adobe. “Adobe has long been a champion of California’s creator economy and education system, and we are proud to partner with the California State University (CSU) in ensuring that CSU students are equipped to succeed as creators, creative thinkers, and innovators in an increasingly digital world that is powered by AI.”
California State Universities award nearly half of all the state’s bachelor’s degrees and one in ten employees in the state are alumni shared the California State University system.
Over 30 of the top 50 AI firms in the world are based out of California, but over half of their workforces are international employees noted the California State University system.
“The latest AI technologies can be used in many contexts, from academia to the workforce and we are excited to work with industry leaders to help the CSU build on our success in an AI-driven economy,” shared Ed Clark, CSU’s Chief Information Officer. “At the CSU, we have two imperatives: to equip our students with the skills to leverage these powerful tools, and to transform our own institutional practices through AI to better serve the largest public university system in the nation.”
The new initiative comes from the AI Workforce Acceleration Board, a collaboration of some of the world’s leading tech companies and the Office of California Governor that will also include representatives from the California State University system explained the California State University system.
Notably, the Office of California Governor has spearheaded public intelligence briefings about the emerging generative artificial intelligence industry and signed guidelines concerning the use of artificial intelligence at state agencies into law.
“We’re still in the early stages of AI adoption in education, and it is critical that the entire ecosystem—education systems, technologists, educators, and governments—work together to ensure that all students globally have access to AI and develop the skills to use it responsibly,” noted Leah Belsky, VP and General Manager of Education at OpenAI. “CSU is setting a bold and powerful example for the education sector.”
