Dear faculty and staff,
While artificial intelligence technology has been around for half a century, in just a few short years, hundreds of new AI tools have made their way into our everyday lives faster and more intimately than ever before. Not only are these technologies integrated into our personal lives, they are now part of the ways that we teach, learn and work right here on campus.
AI technology and tools offer immense opportunities, and it is critical that we embrace them—they can help us work more efficiently, more equitably and prepare our students to succeed in a technology-rich world. We've already successfully integrated these tools into many of our university administrative operations, and we encourage our community to explore how AI tools can enhance their work. We also understand that AI poses challenges.
AI Commission
Over the past year, the President's Commission on Artificial Intelligence has worked diligently to explore, evaluate and provide recommendations on the responsible development, deployment and ethical use of AI technologies within the university community. Today, we’re pleased to share their final report with our community.
The report outlines three key recommendations:
- An AI council to ensure ethical, transparent, privacy-respecting use of AI;
- An AI accelerator to support exploration, community connection and organizational use of AI; and,
- A repository of AI tools for campus use.
We are grateful for the dedication of the members of the commission, made up of students, faculty and staff across campus, and for the leadership of its co-chairs Jen Golbeck, professor, College of Information, and Axel Persaud, assistant vice president of enterprise engineering, Division of Information Technology.
We, along with other campus leaders, are starting the process to consider and implement many of their recommendations.
Generative AI campus guidance
We recognize a more immediate need for direction on the use of AI for our community. Today, we share our newly-developed University of Maryland Generative AI Guidelines, which were developed by a cross-departmental working group with input from faculty and academic leadership. All UMD faculty, staff, students and affiliates are expected to follow these guidelines when using GenAI tools for teaching and learning, research and work-related functions. We urge all members of our community to read the guidance to understand acceptable and prohibited uses of GenAI, and to access resources. The Teaching & Learning Center (TLTC) also offers a variety of resources to help guide faculty on best practices on how to best integrate GenAI tools into courses.
These guidelines supplement established policies and provide best practices for the ethical, responsible, and equitable use of GenAI in teaching, learning, research, scholarship and administrative functions. They promote transparency, enhance productivity and uphold the university's core values of integrity, inclusivity and respect.
TerpAI tool for UMD community members
In addition, we are pleased to announce the launch of TerpAI, a new UMD-approved GenAI chatbot supported by the Division of IT. TerpAI is currently accessible to all UMD faculty and staff and will become available to all students on the first day of the Spring semester. This is one of several GenAI services provided by DIT . We recognize that many of our members already use publicly available AI tools, and we encourage everyone to review their current practices and usage of public AI tools and adopt UMD-approved AI platforms that meet our privacy and security standards.
TerpAI, a UMD-owned chatbot powered by OpenAI, leverages natural language processing to generate responses based on user input. TerpAI is secure and reliable, ensuring your data is handled with the highest privacy standards, and is protected and never shared outside UMD. However, it is imperative to recognize that the use of TerpAI and other GenAI tools comes with inherent risks. Therefore, a shared commitment to responsible and ethical use at both individual and institutional levels is crucial to navigating these evolving challenges.
Embracing the future of AI
We’re proud to be home to some of the nation’s most prominent AI researchers and scholars, and at the forefront of shaping the future of AI’s ethical development and use. We hope you will find these resources helpful as you navigate how to responsibly use AI here at UMD.
Sincerely,
Darryll J. Pines
President, University of Maryland
He/Him/His
Jennifer King Rice
Senior Vice President and Provost
She/Her/Hers
Jeffrey K. Hollingsworth
Professor, Vice President IT & Chief Information Officer
He/Him/His