UM Joins International Collective to Advance AI in Education and Research
OXFORD, Miss. – The University of Mississippi has been invited to join NextGenAI, a $50 million initiative designed to advance artificial intelligence research and education. OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, announced the consortium on March 4th.
“The NextGenAI partnership represents an important step in the University of Mississippi’s efforts to build on our existing AI expertise and explore new ways to integrate AI into our core mission of education, research, and service,” said John Higginbotham, UM vice chancellor for research and economic development.
“This collaboration strengthens our commitment to innovation and positions our campus as a leader in advancing AI-driven solutions that benefit our students, faculty, and the broader community.”
The collaboration’s central goal is to support AI-driven research across various fields while supporting members’ missions in science, medicine, technology, and education. “A close collaboration with universities is essential to our mission of building AI that benefits everyone,” stated Brad Lightcap, chief operating officer of OpenAI. “NextGenAI will accelerate research progress and catalyze a new generation of institutions equipped to harness the transformative power of AI.”
Other NextGenAI members include notable institutions such as the University of Michigan, Duke University, Harvard University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Ole Miss is the only institution in Mississippi and one of only three Southeastern Conference universities to receive an invitation to join the collaboration.
NextGenAI will provide $50,000 to fund research through the National Center of Narrative Intelligence in partnership with the Center for Practical Ethics, and the Institute for Data Science. According to Wes Jennings, co-director of the center, “The idea at the National Center of Narrative Intelligence is that we embrace AI as tools that can build efficiencies in research.”
“OpenAI is a world leader in AI applications, and I think this collaboration shows that we are and have been recognized as an emerging leader in AI.” Artificial intelligence can streamline data processing, identify patterns, and complete repetitive tasks at high speeds, significantly reducing the time required for research.
“We know that AI can do things in minutes that would take researchers hundreds of hours to do by hand,” Jennings said. “It’s a tool; let’s use it to solve grand challenges nimbly and with efficiency.”
The center will host a competitive grant process to identify research projects that will benefit from OpenAI’s support. The call for applications will be available to Ole Miss researchers later this semester.
Jennings added, “This grant is going to allow us to support interdisciplinary, collaborative research. We want to kick-start ideas and provide resources that can help those working with AI on campus. We’re looking for bright ideas and bright minds to work on them.”
