AI at the University of Notre Dame
Our AI initiatives reflect Notre Dame's dedication to leadership in innovation while upholding our core values of ethics and community engagement. This summary of activities attempts to be inclusive of AI activities for Administration and Teaching and Learning, but does not cover the many AI-related innovations happening in Notre Dame Research. We are excited about the positive impact these projects will have on our students, faculty, staff, and the broader educational landscape.
AI Innovation Council
Started in Fall 2024, this group of campus leaders—including students, faculty, staff, and administrators—brings diverse perspectives ranging from teaching and learning to tech ethics and the Catholic faith. This group acts as an advisory group and sounding board to continue the implementation of the GAIT recommendations. As we collaborate with campus innovators to develop a cohesive vision for AI at Notre Dame, this group will serve as an essential source of direction, feedback, and guidance.
Empowering Our Community Through AI Literacy
In September 2024, the cross-divisional Digital Literacy in AI working group launched the Get to Know AI campaign, attracting over 100 attendees both in person and via Zoom for the first session. This initiative aims to enhance AI literacy across campus through monthly workshops on relevant topics for the entire community and targeted sessions throughout the year. To make learning accessible, all sessions are recorded and available on the ai.nd.edu website alongside additional curated resources.
Upcoming AI Workshops
We have an exciting lineup of AI workshops!
February 19, 2025: AI & Copyright
March 18, 2025: AI and Its Impact on Society
March 2025: AI & Sustainability
April 2025: What does it mean to be human in the age of AI
May 2025: Creating with AI: Art and Multimedia
Innovative AI Projects and Pilots
Google Gemini: Powerful Campus AI with Data Protections
Our partners at Google recently announced that Gemini, their ChatGPT-like AI chat offering, now extends data privacy protections to its education customers. The tool, included with our existing Google licenses, also offers unique features to faculty and staff users, such as the ability to reference one's Gmail, Calendar and Drive. Notre Dame has thoroughly vetted the terms and license agreements and is rolling out Gemini to staff and faculty beginning in January, with student announcements to follow. The rollouts will be accompanied with comprehensive training, documentation and support, with emphasis on responsible use and adherence to established policies around data use and academic integrity.
ChatGPT Team Pilot
Our ChatGPT Team Pilot extended from Summer 2024 through January 2025 and included more than 250 faculty and staff exploring use cases involving campus data. Not only do their experiences prove demand amongst these audiences, but they are also demonstrating value. Interest is high outside of this group, as well; an AI Community of Practice event featuring stories from pilot participants drew 118 attendees. To support this pilot, the AI Enablement team put on a series of lunch-and-learn sessions teaching various topics and inviting pilot members to share. Bi-weekly surveys and focus group discussions are yielding insights that will shape our strategies for AI moving forward.
ChatGPT EDU
As we near the planned end of this pilot, we will offer participants a choice: migrate to using Google Gemini exclusively, or begin to pay for subscriptions to the OpenAI offering. We expect some users and teams to want to continue with ChatGPT specifically, so to avoid siloed, unmanaged accounts and to take advantage of more secure enterprise features such as contractual data protection and single-sign-on, OIT will pursue a contract for OpenAI's EDU edition, which will enable centralized and managed ChatGPT accounts on campus.
AI-Powered Transfer Articulation
In partnership with the Registrar, OIT launched an AI-powered pipeline to streamline transfer processing by pre-analyzing course syllabi submitted by applicants. The AI identifies key details such as the institution, course specifics, and mode of instruction, distinguishing between online and in-person, synchronous and asynchronous courses. While the AI accelerates processing, human reviewers stay in the loop to ensure accuracy and uphold our institutional standards.
Praxis AI Pilot: Enhancing Student Learning
Managed by OIT Teaching and Learning Technologies, the Praxis AI Pilot program offers faculty members an advanced AI assistant seamlessly integrated with the Canvas learning management system. Faculty participants may "train" AI assistants using selected course materials, supplementary readings, and instructional videos. These resources, combined with rigorously vetted external sources, are intended to bolster student success and establish best practices for faculty incorporating AI in teaching. The pilot program includes 25 instructors from across academic disciplines, 31 classes, and has generated over 10,000 prompts that will be evaluated. The pilot has been extended into Spring 2025, and an IRB has been secured for an accompanying research study.
Student Curriculum Bot
Our students are particularly excited about the possibilities of AI to enhance the way they engage with University resources. We are partnering with student government, advisors from the Center for University Advising, and representatives from the Registrar's Office to develop an AI-powered bot that can answer questions about the many degree opportunities available in the Undergraduate Curriculum. The goal of this project is to build a service that is grounded in solid University data and that directs students to appropriate resources.
GitHub CoPilot Now Available to Staff and Faculty
Campus developers in Hesburgh Libraries, OIT, and the Mendoza College of Business evaluated and delivered recommendations for the adoption of GitHub CoPilot, a service that infuses programmers' existing tools with AI capabilities to generate, modify, explain, and test their code. Users of our existing GitHub Enterprise environment will be able to pay into a centrally-managed subscription administered by OIT.
AI Development Platform
To facilitate projects like the ones described above and many more, the AI Enablement Team is evaluating platforms that enable streamlined development of AI-powered bots and workflows. Our goal is to empower not just IT staff, but trained power users across campus to bring AI capabilities to their own departments. The project kicks off in January 2025, with an expected completion date later in the Spring semester.
AI Partnerships on Campus
ND Learning AI For Teaching and Learning Working Group
The AI Working Group focuses on equipping faculty with the resources and strategies to effectively evaluate and integrate generative AI. Guided by GAIT recommendations, the group has developed an introductory video series, supplemental materials, and programming to assess AI tools and foster cross-disciplinary discussions on its opportunities and challenges. By providing foundational resources and encouraging dialogue, the group empowers educators to harness AI responsibly and innovatively. One impactful output of this group is the ND Teaching Well with AI Academy, described below.
ND Teaching Well with AI Academy
In order to address the Generative AI Taskforce's three core teaching and learning recommendations, ND Learning is spearheading efforts to help instructors with the knowledge and resources to be effective at leading the University’s AI transition. Over the course of the semester, a series of workshops will help participants learn the principles of AI and how to apply them in the classroom.
AI User Community of Practice
The AI Community of Practice gives Notre Dame faculty and staff an opportunity to come together to discuss the latest news in the fast-moving world of AI and to discuss how it is impacting their day-to-day lives on campus. The monthly Zoom meeting regularly attracts 50-60 participants from across disciplines and divisions. Join today at ai.nd.edu/participate.
AI Developer Interest Group
AI is a topic of particular interest for those in our campus community who work with code and data. This group meets monthly to discuss new technologies and coding frameworks, explore opportunities to upskill our developers, and to create proofs-of-concept that lay a foundation for future innovation. Join today at ai.nd.edu/participate.
AI For Campus Communicators
In the fall, the AI Enablement Team welcomed nearly 60 campus communicators from every corner of campus for an afternoon of AI learning, lightning talks, and discussion of relevant topics, such as AI attribution. Our next meeting takes place on January 31 and will focus on AI literacy and hands-on workshops. These meetings serve as a model for how we hope to engage not just individuals or departments, but cross-department disciplines.
Lucy Family Institute for Data & Society
In addition to its expansive research portfolio on AI, both foundational and interdisciplinary, Lucy Family Institute faculty and staff are also engaged in teaching AI-related topics in classrooms, organizing AI workshops and help desks for campus, developing and delivering experiential learning programs in data science and AI like iTREDS, and creating upskilling programs in AI for community partners and industry.
Arts & Letters FLAIR
Faculty Leading the AI Response is a professional development program led by the Office of Digital Strategy in the College of Arts and Letters. It provides faculty professional development workshops, consultative office hours, direct access to a range of AI systems, and ongoing updates to A&L faculty concerning the latest developments and implications of AI. The program collaborates with OIT, ALCO, Notre Dame Learning, and the office of Academic Standards to ensure high synergy and impacts across efforts. STAIR (Staff Tailored AI Response) will be kicked off this month.
The NewAI Project
The NewAI Project is a student-centric community outreach effort sponsored by the Technology and Digital Studies Program in the College of Arts & Letters to inform the non-technical Notre Dame community, and civil society in general, about changes and impacts of AI. Core activities include Expl(AI)ned social media newsletters (on LinkedIn), ThinkND podcasts and posts, an Instagram feed. The New AI project also collaborates with the A&L Beyond the Dome program to bring “What every student should know about ChatGPT” workshops to students each semester.
Center for Research Computing
The Center for Research Computing (CRC) supports Notre Dame’s scientific AI initiatives and projects by providing advanced AI-focused cyberinfrastructure, software engineering, and user support to foster interdisciplinary AI and computational research across campus. With a mission to facilitate multidisciplinary discoveries, the CRC offers advanced computing resources, including high-performance computing resources, GPU-accelerated systems, and research data storage. It also provides expertise in artificial intelligence and tailored support for faculty, research staff, and students to accelerate their projects. By combining cutting-edge technology with collaborative engagement, the CRC plays a critical role in empowering scientific innovation and AI-driven exploration across Notre Dame’s research enterprise.
Fostering a Multi-Institutional Higher Ed AI Community
Notre Dame AI Forum
Notre Dame continues to lead in the higher ed AI community, convening participants from more than 50 institutions for the second Notre Dame AI Forum. Held at the Morris Inn November 18–20, 2024, this event's focus areas included real-world impact, change management, and strategic innovation in AI. The Forum community extends well beyond this event; our active Slack group has over 650 members from 100+ schools and is an invaluable resource for any higher education AI strategist or practitioner.
Internet2 AI Innovation Accelerator
Notre Dame is leading this cross-institutional group fostering community and collaboration among AI developers and strategists. In addition to monthly webinars focused on innovative work at member schools, key goals include building learning paths for AI upskilling. The group has 500+ members and is currently planning a hackathon hosted by Cornell University in NYC in February.