US college partners with ChatGPT maker OpenAI, but collaboration branded ‘offensive’ by some academic s
Arizona State University has announced that it is partnering up with OpenAI to define how generative AI can be used in higher education to “shape learning, research and the future of work.” Its chatbot is expected to help with teaching, research, and operations in an initiative called ChatGPT Edu.
According to OpenAI, ChatGPT will be used as an AI writing companion, providing students with real-time feedback to strengthen their arguments and expedite submission. It is hoped that another chatbot named ‘Sam’ will help students in the College of Health Solutions practice patient-provider interactions through role-based conversations.
“The bot, while not perfect, allows for students to authentically practice their motivational skills,” shared Clinical Professor Colleen Cordes, who teaches the course.
When Arizona State University announced the deal, they launched the AI Innovation Challenge, inviting faculty members to propose how ChatGPT could improve their work. In just a few weeks, over 80 percent of ASU’s schools and colleges had reportedly submitted proposals, prompting a second round that included student researchers. Currently, over 400 proposals are being evaluated, and more than 200 projects using ChatGPT Edu have already started.
“Deploying [@OpenAI’s] ChatGPT in over 200 projects: @ASU adopted ChatGPT the same way it adopted other technology: by being intentional about its impact. “What we’ve learned at ASU is that if you want to focus on the impact of technology, start by…
— Adam.GPT (@TheRealAdamG) August 26, 2024
“No two people learn in exactly the same way, and innovation has proven to be the most powerful asset that we have,” says Michael M. Crow, President of ASU. “Essential to ASU’s success is that we use technology, and now AI, to deliver lifelong learning and to drive human potential.”
He added: “Higher education in 50 years will be highly diversified, technologically enhanced, and throughout a person’s life.”
Anne Jones, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, stated: “We are convinced that training students to use AI is essential for their future workforce success.
“People are excited because they now have concrete examples to point to in which AI is improving their outcomes in the classroom.”
Should AI be allowed in education?That said, there has been criticism over its integration into the school setting. Erik Baker, a lecturer in the History of Science at Harvard University, called the collaboration “profoundly offensive” because he felt that it portrayed students as incapable of learning how to write for themselves.
The idea that AI is a boon to "accessibility" at schools like ASU because their students aren't capable of learning how to write for themselves is so profoundly offensive it's hard to put into words. Maybe ChatGPT could help. pic.twitter.com/nKEbqv6Vlz
— Erik Baker (@erikmbaker) August 21, 2024
According to Inside Higher Ed, some faculty members had expressed concern ahead of the move. “The university has thrown all this at us and pushed,” said Laurie Stoff, an ASU professor. She is a member of United Campus Workers of Arizona, which represents the state’s three public universities.
“It was always why it’s so great, ‘Here’s why you should engage,’” she said. “It wasn’t ever a discussion of, ‘We should be thinking about this collectively, what are the downsides.’”
Associate Professor Alex Young told the publication that his concern was the “labor issue.” He stated, “It can both detract from the student experience and shift writing instruction from hard-working instructors to machines.” Earlier this year, he wrote on X that he had raised the issue during a faculty meeting.
“It’s time for us to start developing a narrative to present to the admin about the value of human as opposed to AI writing instruction” is a real sentence I uttered in a faculty meeting today
— Alex Young (@Alex_T_Young) April 3, 2024
ASU is said to be one of the largest public universities in the U.S., serving 181,000 students in a given year and offering over 800 degree options.
ReadWrite has reached out to Arizona State University for comment.
Featured image: Ideogram
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