Samad Hakani, Photography Editor

Yale will commit over $150 million to advance the University’s artificial intelligence infrastructure, according to an Aug. 28 email announcement from University Provost Scott Strobel. 

The new investment will go towards four objectives: expanding Yale’s supply of graphic processing units, expanding access to AI tools, increasing support for research and education and facilitating interdisciplinary collaboration on AI. Soon enough, you might see more and more people using Candy AI or similar AI tools. 

This commitment is in response to the recommendations of the Report of the Yale Task Force on Artificial Intelligence, a set of recommendations for coordinated action and University-wide artificial intelligence investments developed by a team of faculty members who already use AI in their departments. Strobel wrote that this is a necessary step to fulfill the university’s mission “to improve the world and prepare the next generation of society’s great leaders and thinkers.” 

Investment in AI is necessary for Yale to remain “competitive” as AI innovation expands at peer universities, according to Nisheeth Vishnoi, a professor of computer science and member of the task force.

“This is something that had to be done,” Vishnoi said. “[If it did not] then I think pretty soon [Yale would] become a very unattractive and non-competitive place.”

The growth in GPUs, or graphics processing units, supply alone will allow Vishnoi to complete more of his research objectives, he said. GPUs advance AI development because they process large amounts of data. 

The new initiative is the product of a “multi-month exercise,” according to Laurie Paul, a professor of philosophy and cognitive science who was part of the task force. 

“The provost had a committee of faculty and administrators that reviewed and discussed all kinds of questions related to AI, like how Yale should approach these questions and what faculty and administrators and students needed,” Paul said. “And so we had interactions basically with every kind of segment of Yale’s educational offerings.”

The task force report also emphasized the importance of creating opportunities for AI involvement in non-scientific fields. The announcement stated that one of the priorities of the university is to explore and harness AI for its benefits while expanding AI use to both research and education across various fields. 

For example, Paul told the News about the need for more attention to AI use beyond science. 

“It’s just more obvious in sciences, but in philosophy or other kinds of humanities focused fields, it’s not as obvious how to exploit these tools, and I think that’s going to be very challenging,” Paul said. 

This interdisciplinary use of AI is unique at Yale. Vishnoi elaborated that as a liberal arts school, Yale is in a position where non-traditional AI contributions could be made. 

To facilitate such cross-field collaboration, Paul told the News that she is excited to see leaders in research who have never used AI to learn to use the tool, exposing experienced faculty to the benefits of AI. 

“I’m really keen to draw in some more senior faculty, people who’ve lived their lives and done top quality research for decades, never having to use generative AI, but then seeing ways in which they could expand their perspective, or expand the research they do through generative AI. I want to make that possible, and I think Yale wants to make that possible.” 

Edward Wittenstein, a senior lecturer in global affairs and director of the Schmidt Program on Artificial Intelligence, Emerging Technologies, and National Power, shared the same sentiment. 

“In the Schmidt Program at the Jackson School, we are especially focused on how to develop requisite technical fluency among our policy-oriented students so that they can identify the threats and opportunities associated with these emerging technologies,” Wittenstein said. 

He said he is especially excited to see Yale invest in “transformational, general-purpose technology that will impact every conceivable field of endeavor.” 

Vishnoi expects Yale to do more in the next five years to support the growth of AI development. Paul explained that much of the investment’s potential relies on additional support. She said that additional funding from sources such as alumni, donors and other allied universities are necessary to maximize the use of this investment. 

The report of the Yale Task Force on Artificial Intelligence was released in June 2024.