California State Universities Invest in ChatGPT for Students

The ongoing discussion of the pros and cons of generative AI in higher education appears to wane in favor of the technology. The California State University system has invested in ChatGPT Edu, which houses AI tools designed to support higher education, including tutoring for students and grading and/or feedback features for professors. 

This is not novel. Other institutions of higher education have weighed the benefits of the technology, with a diminishing likelihood that its use would decrease, and, personal philosophies aside, have decided to integrate AI into their academic infrastructure. 

Public records obtained by LAist for universities across the country show CSU’s massive scale appears to have helped it land a deal on ChatGPT subscriptions, and that CSU has invested far more aggressively in generative AI tools than other public universities, both in dollars spent and in the number of students served. In an email earlier this year, CSU’s Bentley-Smith said the system leveraged economies of scale “to ensure that the CSU paid the lowest price possible.”

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