UMS's new contract with OpenAI for ChatGPT Edu is intended to make AI usage safer and less expensive

The University of Maine System's new contract with OpenAI for ChatGPT Edu is intended to make AI usage safer and less expensive, at about $22 per user, per year.

Ryan Low, vice chancellor for Finance and Strategic AI Integration said a task force found many employees and students were already using the tools at a high cost to the university— about $20 per user each month. In other instances, Low said they were using free versions where companies then mined their data.

"The committee felt strongly that if these tools were going to be there and if we were going to use these tools—and that certainly seemed to be what was going on—it was important that we do that, that we provide that tool in a safe environment," Low explained.

He said the contract with OpenAI spells out that any information provided to ChatGPT Edu is not used to train its models.

Individual universities will determine their own policies around the use of artificial intelligence in the classroom, Low continued.

"The closer you are to the students, the closer you are to the classroom is really the best place for those conversations," Low said.

The new contract is for a two-year pilot program that will cost about $1.5 million. It's being funded with temporary investment income realized last year, Low added.