On August 28, Yale University President Scott Stroebel announced that the university will invest more than $150 million over the next five years to support faculty, students, and staff involved in AI development.
Asuka Koda August 29, 2024 12:07 AM
Reporter
Samad Haqqani, photo editor
Yale University plans to invest more than $150 million to advance the university’s artificial intelligence infrastructure, university President Scott Stroebel announced in an email on Aug. 28.
The new investment will have four aims: to expand Yale’s supply of graphics processing units, increase access to AI tools, strengthen support for research and education, and foster interdisciplinary collaboration on AI.
This initiative is Yale University Artificial Intelligence Task Force Reportis a set of recommendations for collaborative action and university-wide artificial intelligence investments developed by a team of faculty who are already using AI in their departments. Stroebel wrote that this is a necessary step to fulfill the university’s mission of “improving the world and developing the next generation of society’s great leaders and thinkers.”
Task force member and computer science professor Nisheth Vishnoi said the investment in AI is necessary for Yale to remain “competitive” amid growing AI innovation at its peer universities.
“This was something that had to be done,” Vishnoi said. “If we hadn’t done it, I think it would have quickly become an unattractive, uncompetitive place.”
Vishnoi said the increased supply of GPUs, or graphics processing units, alone could help accomplish more research goals, which he said will advance AI development because they can process large amounts of data.
The new effort is the result of “months of work,” according to task force member Laurie Paul, a professor of philosophy and cognitive science.
“The president set up a committee of faculty and administrators to look at and discuss all the issues around AI, like how should Yale address these issues, what does it need from faculty, administrators and students,” Paul says, “so we were interacting with basically every area of Yale’s educational offering.”
The task force’s report also emphasized the importance of creating opportunities for AI beyond science: One of the university’s priorities, the release said, is to expand the use of AI in both research and education across disciplines, exploring and leveraging its benefits.
For example, Paul told the News that more care needs to be taken with the use of AI beyond science.
“In the sciences it’s more obvious, but in philosophy and other humanities-focused fields it’s not as obvious how to leverage these tools, and I think that’s going to be very difficult,” Paul said.
This interdisciplinary use of AI is unique at Yale, Vishnoi elaborated, explaining that as a liberal arts school, Yale is well positioned to make non-traditional AI contributions.
To foster this cross-disciplinary collaboration, Paul told the News he’s excited to help research leaders who have never used AI before learn how to use the tool and expose more experienced faculty to the benefits of AI.
“I want to bring in more senior faculty who have lived their lives and done the highest quality research for decades without having to use generative AI, but who want to find ways to broaden their horizons and expand their research through generative AI. I want to be able to do that, and I think Yale wants to be able to do that.”
Edward Wittenstein, senior lecturer in international affairs and director of the Schmidt Program on Artificial Intelligence, Emerging Technologies, and State Power, agrees.
“At the Jackson School, the Schmidt program places a special emphasis on how to equip policy-minded students with the technological fluency they need to identify the threats and opportunities that come with these emerging technologies,” Wittenstein said.
He said he was especially excited to see Yale investing in “transformative, general-purpose technology that will impact every conceivable field.”
Vishnoi said he expects Yale to do more to support the growth of AI development over the next five years. Paul explained that much of the investment’s potential depends on additional support. He said the university needs additional funding from alumni, donors and other partner universities to make the most of the investment.
The report of the Yale University Artificial Intelligence Task Force was released in June 2024.
