The University of NSW will gain access to a university orientated version of ChatGPT that offers academics and students intellectual property protections under a landmark new agreement with OpenAI.
The agreement, announced on Monday, is the first by any university in the Asia-Pacific region and heralds a new dawn for the acceptance of artificial intelligence in academia in Australia.
It comes just days after the University of Sydney reversed a policy that had banned the use of AI on homework and assignments, recognising that the technology is here to stay and that its position was untenable.
As part of the agreement, UNSW Sydney will gain access to ChatGPT Edu, an “affordable” university-orientated version of the OpenAI generative AI platform that took the world by storm two years ago.
It is powered by the latest version of ChatGPT, GPT-4o, but offers researchers intellectual property protections that prevent the data being used to train AI models compared to the standard version.
The platform is already being used at institutions like the University of Oxford, Columbia University, the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and Arizona State University.
UNSW chief information officer Chrissy Burns said the new partnership “represents a pivotal moment in our journey to integrate cutting-edge technology into the fabric of UNSW”.
“By leveraging the enterprise-level capabilities of ChatGPT Edu, we can ensure our researchers, educators and students have access to secure and advanced AI tools tailored to their needs,” she said.
“This collaboration aligns seamlessly with UNSW’s strategy to embed AI across all disciplines, driving innovation, safeguarding intellectual property, and preparing our community to thrive as AI-natives in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.”
A “targeted” pilot is already underway, with 500 academics and students to test the platform over 12 months. The pilot, which his focused on enhancing productivity, curriculum development and student and teacher support.
A further “controlled pilot” with a select cohort of students and teachers is also planned for 2025. InnovationAus.com has contacted the university for further information on how the two pilots differ.
UNSW expects to gather feedback from staff every three months on the 12-month pilot to “determine the usefulness and impact on productivity, learning and teaching” and will use it to “develop usages for ChatGPT Edu”.
The university already gives students access to Microsoft Copilot, with similar protections in place to prevent the use of data for training purposes. Similar agreements also exist with Amazon Web Services and Adobe.
One of Australia’s leading AI researchers Toby Walsh, who is the chief scientists at UNSW’s AI Institute, was not quoted by the university but told InnovationAus.com he was pleased to see UNSW leading the way with the new agreement.
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