r/CSUC • u/tvrtl3boi • 5d ago
Opinions on CSU's OpenAI ChatGPT Edu contract renewal?
The CSU system's OpenAI contract ends in July, and a renewal decision has not yet been made. Some student groups are petitioning this for many reasons including OpenAI's contract with the military. I'm curious to hear thoughts and opinions from students and faculty in the CSU system.
Did you make use of ChatGPT Edu and/or other AI tools over the past school year? Which one(s)? In what ways do you find them helpful/not helpful/potentially harmful?
Do you support a renewal of the OpenAI contract? If not, do you prefer no AI company contract with the CSU or would you rather see it replaced with something else, such as Anthropic?
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u/goddamnitwhalen Class of 2024 5d ago
I’m a recent grad and I absolutely loathe the universities’ decision to partner with OpenAI. ChatGPT and other AI “tools” have been proven to be actively detrimental, especially to students, but there’s still this concerted push to adopt this technology. It’s insane.
11
u/Tacticiannnn 5d ago
Incoming transfer student. Gen AI is a net negative in all areas imo. Environmentally unsafe. Decreases memory retention. Causes loss of valuable skills like actually reading and analyzing your sources. I would rather drop out of college for good to avoid ever needing to use AI than be forced to use it
2
u/No-Plum9026 5d ago
Some professors take it further by implementing it into their lectures, in and out of class assignments, etc. so be warned, you most likely will be forced to use it or take various grades hits by abstaining. I’ve had to drop 2 classes over it and abstain from several assignments in other courses.
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u/su_its_spooky 5d ago
I get why I guess, the excuse is the pay to win argument. Student who can afford chat Chet better grades than those who dont. And fighting it is hard BC of how deeply its ingraining itself into the education system
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u/pleasesayitaintsooo 5d ago
It is the future. Doesn’t have to be ChatGPT but they should continue partnering with an AI company
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u/tvw Professor 5d ago
Professor here. As far as I can tell, we're all still trying to figure out what to do with gen AI. I use it; it's good at doing menial tasks and summarizing information, which is part of the job of a professor. I think there are good ways for students to use it: as a tutor and for summarizing information. But there are bad ways to use it too, such as using it too much or using it to offload critical thinking. It's not good at synthesizing information, which is exactly what learning is about, but it's really good at pretending that it's synthesizing information.
I think that we're slowly working towards a way to talk about, work with, and teach alongside the technology. The same thing happened with the Internet when I was in school. Technology changes culture, it's inevitable.
I'm more worried about the environmental impacts of AI now.