Exploring AI together across Purdue

Dear students, faculty and staff colleagues, 

As AI tools, such as large language models and generative algorithms, impact our world like never before, we at Purdue are actively and critically studying this quickly evolving landscape, and its potential opportunities and implications, along five dimensions. 

Policies for Use of AI in Teaching and Learning 

Purdue offers a wide array of opportunities for faculty, researchers and students to join the conversation on AI, including the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) and the Governance and Responsible AI Lab (GRAIL). Thank you in particular to all who joined for stimulating presentations and conversations at last week’s 2023 Purdue System-Wide Virtual Forum on Reimagining Higher Education with Artificial Intelligence. 

Together with our Purdue Student Government and University Senate, consultative processes are well underway this semester with students and educators across Purdue to evaluate and clarify the use of AI in teaching and learning. These tools and applications have the potential to offer new learning opportunities, as well as the potential to disrupt how we learn, in ways we cannot yet fully foresee.  

In the meantime, we encourage faculty — both individually and collectively within each department — to carefully and thoughtfully evaluate the effects of generative AI tools in your courses. Potential areas of emphasis include impacts on the process of student learning, the ability to evaluate learning outcomes effectively, academic integrity assurances, and issues related to the use of others’ intellectual property. The Purdue Innovation Hub, the Innovative Learning Team and the Teaching and Learning Community of Practice are good resources as you continue to think strategically about policies and implications. 

Use of AI in University Operations 

Simultaneously, teams across the university have been exploring the innovative and responsible uses of AI to enhance various university processes — one example being automated systems for travel expense reimbursements — in our ongoing efforts to enhance faculty productivity.

Purdue Students’ Own Innovation 

We encourage the innovation and ingenuity of each of you interested in developing AI tools for studying and learning, and we look forward to working with you and supporting you in that process. Especially for our student inventors and entrepreneurs who have developed some of the first home-grown AI tools within higher education institutions, along with Purdue Innovates, we will provide guidance in the weeks to come so that you can engage in ways that are most helpful to your academic progress and compliant with the rapidly evolving legal and policy landscape.  

Teaching and Learning of AI 

There are many programs at Purdue for students to develop their expertise in AI, including the Department of Computer Science’s BS in Artificial Intelligence, the Department of Philosophy’s BA in Artificial Intelligence, and Electrical and Computer Engineering’s minor and concentrations in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, as well as a range of courses throughout the university that explore the intersection of AI and other disciplines.

Research in Physical AI 

Purdue is set to lead the way in physical AI, where bytes meet atoms to help Indiana be world-leading in key areas such as digital agriculture, advanced manufacturing, precision health and transportation logistics. Under the auspices of our new universitywide Institute for Physical Artificial Intelligence (IPAI) and in partnership with our executive vice president for research, we are engaging faculty across Purdue, seeding new AI research collaborations and partnerships that build on our current strengths, and helping to build out new areas of physical AI strength by bringing new faculty talent to Purdue. Whether you are an undergraduate student interested in summer opportunities, a new PhD student seeking an emerging research area, or a faculty member looking to partner with colleagues across disciplines, we are excited to facilitate connections for you across our campus and create new opportunities to further your scholarly impact.

I look forward to hearing from you as together we explore all that AI has to offer across Purdue.

Patrick Wolfe

Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Diversity