OpenAI previously said that it’s incorporating ChatGPT in the academe. Now, the company’s plan is now in fruition by collaborating with California State University (CSU) for the largest deployment of AI to date.
The CSU system will serve half a million students across 2023 campuses thanks to the integration of ChatGPT Edu, an education-focused version of our beloved chatbot.
A Vision for AI-Powered Education
According to Reuters, the CSU system wants to leverage this agreement in its favor and make it an advantage to be a leader in AI-powered education.
The university would want the embedding of AI tools across academic life—from learning and research to administrative tasks. The goal is to improve student learning by giving students the critical skills they need in AI literacy to better prepare them for a workforce where AI will continue to be dominant.
Apart from that, CSU sees it as a way to empower faculty research. With that in mind, it will provide the faculty with state-of-the-art AI-driven tools that enhance productivity and innovation in research. It will also increase efficiency and effectiveness in administrative processes.
Furthermore, it will also drive economic growth since it will contribute to a highly skilled AI workforce that will drive California’s future economy.
Collaborative Approach
Leah Belsky, VP and General Manager of Education at OpenAI, emphasized the importance of a collaborative approach to AI adoption in education, Forbes wrote in its report.
Belsky said, “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.”
Leading the AI Revolution in Higher Education
Chancellor Mildred García, on the other hand, said that the whole CSU family is proud to announce the highly collaborative public-private initiative. She added that this will position the school as a global leader among higher education systems in the impactful, responsible, and equitable adoption of artificial intelligence.
Regardless, students should always know the ethical use of AI tools like ChatGPT especially in academic-related tasks. Although one study says that ChatGPT is writing better school essays than the students, it does not mean that they should now fully rely on the app.
Simply put, they should use the app to enhance their work or if they’re running out of ideas to write, and not merely write the whole article or passage in a few prompts.
Back in January, Tech Times reported that a Microsoft study dives deep into the impact of GPT-4 on a writer’s creativity. According to the study, some writers are dubious as to how authentic AI writing is for them.
The personalization behind the write-ups will bring a unique spice to the content. While most AI-generated articles do not have a human touch, prompts are doing better to mask any AI touch to the content.
As for some writers, there’s a loss of originality when an AI tool is used in writing. This could also lead to reduced pleasure and mastery—the emotional attachment in writing, not to mention that ownership issues could also arise.
