Balancing Ambition and Cost in University Generative AI Plans
Explore how universities can implement Everyday AI with modest investments, reserving funds for game-changing AI that transforms research and operations.
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Chapter 1
Imported Transcript
Timothy Chester
Some time ago, I was at a meeting of CIOs discussing Generative AI. One prestigious university described its new partnership with OpenAI and the custom chat engine it had built. The projected consumption costs were astronomical. Another institution talked about giving every student and employee a pro ChatGPT license tied directly to their single sign-on.
Timothy Chester
The scale of these ideas was impressive, and the ambition was real. But as I listened, I kept thinking about the tradeoffs. A colleague and I compared notes. Neither of us could make the numbers work without pulling funding from other critical services. But more to the point, we were not persuaded that such large financial commitments were necessary to deliver meaningful AI capabilities.
Timothy Chester
In today’s Dispatch, we lay out how ambitious plans for Everyday AI can proceed with more modest upfront investment. Institutions can build real capability through a disciplined strategy that grows GenAI use at scale while reserving capital for Game-changing AI capabilities that can truly reshape research and operations.