In the words of ASU President Michael Crow, artificial intelligence is “the great equalizer.”
Industries, including higher education, are being forced to adapt quickly to keep up with rapid advances. Over the past several years, ASU has launched a number of initiatives to prepare students for the AI economy, with new tools, research, and credentials designed to help students already in the workforce stay up-to-date on the job market.
ASU has contributed hundreds of millions of dollars to that research, mostly from research grants. The funding will support research in medicine, education and sustainability, among other things.
Additionally, ASU began a flagship partnership with OpenAI early last year. Since then, the university has supported more than 500 AI projects proposed by faculty and students.
ASU brings AI closer to students
This fall, university officials announced that all ASU students, faculty and staff will have access to OpenAI's ChatGPT Edu using GPT-5. ASU Chief Information Officer Lev Gonick describes the effort as “democratizing innovation.” Free licenses became available in early October. The university partnership ensures that the data shared on ChatGPT is private and not used to train AI systems.
See ASU President Crowe's remarks on Bloomberg
“Artificial intelligence is reshaping higher education, from the way teachers evaluate their work to the way universities prepare graduates for jobs that don't yet exist,” ASU President Michael M. Crow told the news outlet in an interview. He calls AI “super-fast calculators” that are forcing schools to raise standards.
The university's previous efforts include Language Buddy, which allows students to practice speaking a second or third language with an AI assistant. The other allows health science students to interact with AI models that mimic interactions with real patients.
Ann Jones, ASU professor and vice president for undergraduate education, said the university's goal is to develop “master learners,” and AI advances that mission.
“It will allow us to make education more accessible to anyone who is eligible,” Jones said of ASU’s AI expansion. “We're going to use it.”
Jones said the university is always looking for ways to involve other faculty and students in the push. This includes dozens of seminars, guides, and AI playgrounds that teach users everything from chatbots to AI research tools.
Is the use of AI sustainable?
Serious questions remain about how mass implementation of AI will impact our daily lives. Many academics, including several at ASU, question how the use of AI is sustainable, given its often overwhelming energy requirements. Kyle Bowen, ASU's deputy chief information officer for enterprise technology, said ASU is having similar discussions in the lab.
One of the ways the university is looking at how to make AI more sustainable is by providing tools that people can use to compare the exact energy and costs associated with using AI.
“You can choose the most efficient choice and be transparent about how the differences between models look at the trade-offs between cost and quality,” says Bowen.
The university is also researching ways to make AI work more efficiently in hopes of curbing energy usage over time.
What is AI skill up?
As more companies move to cut costs and implement AI, a competitive job market is fueling long-standing concerns that AI will begin to take over jobs once performed by humans.
According to the World Economic Forum's 2025 report, around 40% of employers are expected to reduce their workforce if tasks can be automated. According to Forbes, some of the most vulnerable jobs center around data entry, scheduling, and customer service.
In response, ASU has launched a portfolio of programs to help people in vulnerable sectors acquire the new AI skills required by the modern workforce. This course touches on the use of AI in leadership, finance, healthcare, education, sustainability, and more. Prices start at $49.
It's a topic Crowe and other leaders have tackled head-on. In a roundtable discussion this fall with several technology leaders and Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, Crow spoke at length about universities' responsibility to ensure students are prepared for the many jobs that don't yet exist.
“Institutions like ours need to stop lagging behind innovation and find ways to take advantage of these technology opportunities,” Crowe said. “Because these companies may not be able to think about that while they're developing these kinds of things, but we can.”
About this story
Written by Helen Rummel for the Arizona Republic. Reprinted with permission from The Arizona Republic. Edited for length.
