On Tuesday, February 4, CSU Chancellor Mildred Garcia announced an initiative to give students across all 23 Cal State campuses access to OpenAI tools, such as ChatGPT. The same day, a press conference was held at San Jose State University where Chancellor Garcia announced the plan to make AI more accessible to students and faculty.
“This initiative, which surpasses any existing university model in both scale and impact, positions the CSU as a global leader among higher education systems in the impactful, responsible and equitable adoption of artificial intelligence,” Chancellor Garcia shared.
Chancellor Garcia announced the AI initiative in an email issued to students and faculty. To make this possible, the CSU is collaborating with major tech companies (e.g. Google, Apple, Microsoft, etc.) and Governor Gavin Newsom to bring these resources to campuses at no cost. In addition to these resources, students will receive training on these tools.
The AI Workforce Acceleration Board established by the CSU is another product of this initiative which is designed to support and work alongside students as concerns arise. Concerns range from climate change and housing affordability. The board and initiative are both the first of its kind.
More details are to come as this becomes more available to students.
“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,” Chancellor Garcia shared.
By increasing accessibility to AI, CSU hopes to prepare students for an AI-driven economy. The CSU shared that they are the first university system in the country to integrate into this system and shared that it will set them ahead of other systems, since this is the first of its kind.