First in Italy, the University of Pisa lays the foundation for a close collaboration with OpenAI. Together, they will work to define what the future use of artificial intelligence will be in teaching, research, and administrative activities.
The alliance arises following the University of Pisa’s acquisition of the license to use ChatGPT Edu, the version of ChatGPT for universities announced on March 30, and designed to distribute artificial intelligence responsibly to students, teachers, researchers, and campus activities.
The University of Pisa is the first in Italy to adopt ChatGPT Edu, the version of ChatGPT for universities, announced on March 30 and created for the responsible distribution of artificial intelligence to students, faculty, researchers, and for campus activities.
“The University of Pisa has been using OpenAI technology for over a year to offer cutting-edge services to its community, and now the time has come to strengthen this mutual relationship – explains Professor Antonio Cisternino, President of the University Computing System – For this reason, we have decided to join the program dedicated to universities and to be among the first in the world to evaluate the potential of ChatGPT Edu technologies in teaching and research activities, alongside other prestigious international universities like Harvard and Oxford.”
“At the first global OpenAI event dedicated to education, which I attended with CRUI, we discussed with representatives from universities around the world how AI can be utilized in this sector,” Cisternino continues. “This will allow us to have a preview of the upcoming products from OpenAI, as was the case with Canvas, and to be at the forefront of a continuously expanding research field.”
“We are excited to collaborate with the University of Pisa so that students and faculty can benefit from our AI tools through ChatGPT Edu,” commented Leah Belsky, General Manager for Education at OpenAI. “We look forward to supporting the team in delivering more personalized learning, promoting discoveries in research, and helping prepare students for an AI-oriented future.”
The University of Pisa began working at a more strategic level with OpenAI products in March 2023, when UniPi used the ChatGPT API to develop the open-source project Oraculum/Sibylla—an innovative knowledge management system—and create AI-based chats capable of providing accurate information on regulations and university procedures in any language.
The recently initiated collaboration between the University of Pisa and OpenAI fits into a broader commitment of Unipi in the field of Artificial Intelligence, which includes master’s degree programs, postgraduate courses, and research projects. Among these is GoodAI-Labs, a multidisciplinary laboratory for the study, promotion, and validation of reliable, transparent, robust, secure, and ethical artificial intelligence systems. This laboratory is the result of the activities of the FAIR project, funded by the PNRR with the aim of developing the artificial intelligence systems of the future. The University of Pisa is the national coordinator of the human-centered AI sub-project within this initiative.