On Tuesday, Clemson University announced that it will finalize its partnership with OpenAI to expand access to ChatGPT for students and faculty.

The University aims to provide students and faculty with ChatGPT Edu, which is a version of the platform built specifically for education, according to Clemson News.

ChatGPT Edu is an upgraded subscription plan to the standard model that provides increased message limits and is the most widely useful model the company offers, according to OpenAI’s website.

The agreement between the University and OpenAI ensures that any information entered into the Clemson model of ChatGPT cannot be utilized to train further AI models outside the University’s environment.

University Provost J. Cole Smith spoke positively about the upcoming partnership with OpenAI in an interview with Clemson News.

Community members will be able to “responsibly explore new ways of teaching, learning and discovery,” Smith said. He also emphasized “Clemson’s human-centered approach to artificial intelligence” and the University’s focus on utilizing AI to improve student and faculty experience.

The agreement is a component of the Clemson University AI Initiative, announced in late January as a “cross-disciplinary effort to bring together faculty, staff and students to create Clemson’s human-centered approach to artificial intelligence,” according to Clemson News.

The initiative is being led by Mitch Shue, the provost fellow for artificial intelligence and a professor of practice in the School of Computing, who also serves as executive director of the AI Research Institute for Science and Engineering.

“Artificial intelligence is rapidly shaping how we live, work and learn,” Shue said in regard to the initiative. He noted Clemson’s effort to explore this new technology ethically and to encourage creativity and collaboration among community members.

In addition to Shue, the initiative is being spearheaded by Nathan McNeese, the associate vice president for technology and innovation. McNeese, also the McQueen Quattlebaum Endowed Professor of Human-Centered Computing, serves as the founding director of the Clemson University Center for Human-AI Interaction, Collaboration, and Teaming.

McNeese regarded AI as “not merely a computational endeavor,” but instead a human endeavor that “demands thoughtful design and stewardship.”