All University of Sydney students and staff will soon gain free and supported access to OpenAI’s ChatGPT Edu, the enterprise AI tool of choice for a number of leading universities worldwide that provides greater security, benefits and features beyond the standard free tool.

The institution-wide investment will provide each of the University’s students and staff with equitable access to the ChatGPT Edu alongside training and support regardless of their circumstances, discipline or role. 

“It’s our responsibility to graduate students who are well equipped for the modern world of work, provide our researchers with the tools they need to continue our globally competitive research, and make our University systems and processes easier to navigate for our community,” Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Mark Scott, said. 

Preparing students for jobs of the future, protecting academic integrity 

The University has been transforming the way it teaches and assesses students to meet the opportunities and challenges AI presents without compromising academic rigour.

The University’s sector-leading, two-lane approach to assessment ensures students can prove their knowledge and capabilities in secure supervised assessments, and demonstrate how they can engage with AI effectively and responsibly in open unsupervised assessments.

Home-grown, award-winning and global AI education platform Cogniti – that puts teachers in control and supports 24/7 personalised tutoring, feedback, role-play and learning – will remain the preferred tool for educators in the classroom, with ChatGPT Edu supplementing AI use in education and learning.

“AI is rapidly reshaping the workforce our graduates will enter and our goal is to help all our students use AI effectively while ensuring they leave university with the human capabilities, the knowledge, skills, judgement, creativity, ethical awareness and adaptability they’ll continue to need to thrive in the jobs of the future,” Professor Scott said. 

"Free access to ChatGPT Edu, alongside other platforms including Cogniti, supports a level playing field for AI use, with all students able to apply its advanced features to enable easier collaboration in group learning activities, develop ideas and brainstorm, undertake advanced information analysis, ask questions, all while building AI literacy.”

Kiran Mani, OpenAI’s Managing Director for APAC, said the University of Sydney was making a serious investment in its students’ futures. 

“Students have the curiosity and creativity to push the boundaries of what’s possible with AI. Investments like this will help them graduate with the skills and experience to put those strengths to work and ultimately shape the future. 

“AI is transforming how the world learns, and students are leading the way. The University of Sydney is backing that ambition by giving students and staff the tools and support to think critically, solve hard problems and turn ideas into action."

Investing in AI sustainability research and innovation 

An AI Sustainability Research and Innovation Fund is being established to leverage existing multidisciplinary research expertise and help build the evidence, methodologies and innovations needed to better understand, measure and reduce AI's environmental impacts in a coordinated and strategic way. 

Researchers are supported by an evolving suite of advanced computing infrastructure including our newest high-performance computing platform Apollo, to drive discovery with AI and compute across the University including in engineering, science, medicine and health, business, law, social sciences and the Conservatorium of Music. 

Current projects include building fast and energy-efficient photonic chips to power AI models, measuring brain volume in neurodegenerative disease, sustainable energy production, building a national platform for structural biology, and the impacts of AI on society, education and technology, with academics informing national policy through contributions to the NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into Data Centres and the current Federal Parliamentary Inquiry into AI and Data Centres.

“As we continue to incorporate the positive potential of AI across our research, teaching and operations, our strategic seeding investment of $1 million will serve as a platform to collaborate on research, policy and with industry through a ‘living lab’ approach,” Professor Scott said.

Human-centred, equitable and staged approach to rollout

Vice-President (Operations), Nicole Gower, said the University’s students and staff were front of mind as work is undertaken to prepare them to use the technology in a safer, more secure, and reliable way.

“Our implementation is being guided by the University's Responsible AI Framework which defines our principles and guardrails around the responsible use of AI, and provides oversight, governance and support for AI adoption across our institution,” she said.

ChatGPT Edu features will be introduced in stages, with additional capabilities being progressively enabled throughout the rollout. University data will not be used to train models.

Pilots and focus groups, alongside a significant investment in AI training and support, will allow the University to continue to assess and invest in additional AI capabilities and partnerships as technology and the University’s needs evolve. 

“Students and staff will be supported to explore how AI can add real value to learning and work, build capability to use AI while upholding academic integrity, safeguarding intellectual property, and maintaining the upmost standards in responsible use and privacy,” Ms Gower said.  

Hero image: Students Bailor Pan, Jo Ee Ng, Vedant Bansal engage with AI. (Credit University of Sydney/Fiona Wolf)