Under the agreement, which is renewable annually, each campus and the system office will operate its own ChatGPT, which is a conversational AI chatbot developed by OpenAI. The first year will cost the university about $2 million for 100,000 users, an expense that will be covered by the CU System Office. Campuses will be responsible for their individual costs in later years, according to a release.
The rollout of CU's ChatGPT tools is expected to be completed this spring, and will be available to all students, faculty and staff with CU email addresses.
"Our data shows that generative AI tools, particularly ChatGPT, are already widely used by CU faculty, staff and students," CU Boulder Chancellor Justin Schwartz said in a release. "But using institutional data on the public platform can expose students, faculty, staff and the university to security risks. Through this agreement, ChatGPT Edu will offer a secure, institutionally supported alternative that better protects our data and meets users where they already are."
CU will specifically offer ChatGPT Edu, a version of ChatGPT created for universities. OpenAI will not use any CU ChatGPT Edu environment or user content to train its large language models, according to the release.
CU said it will focus on equitable access to ChatGPT while maintaining strong privacy, security and data governance standards. Before gaining access, users will complete a brief training on appropriate use, privacy considerations and best practices. Additional learning resources will also be available. University officials acknowledged the environmental impacts associated with AI, according to the release, and said CU will continue to align AI adoption with its sustainability goals.
Colorado State University has also launched a similar university-controlled AI program called CSU-GPT, giving every student, faculty, and staff member a way to use generative AI inside CSU's secure Microsoft Azure environment.
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