WashU Expands AI Roadmap with New Training and Tools
WashU IT continues to progress in artificial intelligence (AI) with access to advanced tools and growing training opportunities. These efforts mark a significant step forward in the university’s long-term AI roadmap.
Partnering with the Office of the Provost, the Digital Intelligence & Innovation (DI2) Accelerator, and the Center for Health AI (CHAI) teams, WashU IT has been working behind the scenes to equip university students, faculty and staff with today’s most up-to-date AI tools.
Hosting a suite of safe and equitable options, WashU IT teams enabled AI tools such as Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, OpenAI ChatGPT Edu and NotebookLM to assist students, faculty and staff. Tool availability varies based on user need and university policies. For more information about this, visit the AI website. One new resource is Codex, OpenAI’s agentic coding and automation tool, which is now available at no additional cost through ChatGPT Edu. Codex enables users to generate code, automate repetitive tasks, explore new programming languages and workflows, and build and iterate on technical projects more efficiently.
In order to equip users and empower them to use these AI tools ethically, responsibly and efficiently, the collective AI teams across the university created educational curriculum such as the AI Literacy for the WashU Scholar Canvas Module, created for WashU students by the Center for Teaching and Learning and the DI2 Accelerator and the AI Literacy Program, an AI foundational curriculum for WashU staff created by WashU IT, available in Workday.
In the future, university members can look forward to advanced options such as Claude, a highly capable AI assistant from Anthropic, that can process text, images and files to help with complex tasks, creative work, and technical troubleshooting. Additional enhanced AI features throughout the different choices will also be introduced and can be added at nominal costs. Users are encouraged to also be on the lookout for amazing agentic AI resources, currently being developed in partnership with various teams across campus.
WashU IT leadership has emphasized that this expansion is just the beginning. “AI is evolving at a rapid pace and we are committed to equipping the university with the right tools to enhance teaching and learning, increase day-to-day efficiency and accelerate research and innovation,” said Jesie Minton, Vice Chancellor for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer. “WashU IT is honored to partner with the Office of the Provost, the DI2 Accelerator and CHAI to support the safe, responsible and ethical use of AI at WashU.”
Future phases of the AI roadmap will focus on introducing more advanced, enterprise level AI tools tailored specifically for higher education environments. As WashU continues to invest in AI, students, faculty and staff can expect ongoing opportunities to learn, adapt and leverage emerging technologies in meaningful ways.
For a listing of available tools and their capabilities, visit the AI portal.