FHWS building at Sanderheinrichsleitenweg Würzburg

Technical University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt introduces ChatGPT

Complimentary use across THWS in line with data protection regulations – benefits for students and employees as well as for teaching and research

As one of the first higher education institutions in Germany, the Technical University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt (THWS) has introduced ChatGPT on its campuses: an artificial intelligence (AI) that generates texts. This initiative, which students and employees may use free of charge, is supposed to enrich and support teaching, studying, and research processes. The platform HAWKI serves as interface to ChatGPT in order to ensure use in line with data protection regulations.

ChatGPT, developed by the company OpenAI, has become established around the world as one of the most progressive instruments in the field of artificial intelligence. Due to the ability to freely generate texts, ChatGPT has opened up new prospects for
applications in academia, for example for tutorials, research assistance, text generation, and language learning support.

“By introducing ChatGPT at THWS, we are making clear that we are committed to technological innovation and digital education,” says Professor Dr. Kristin Weber, Vice President for Digitalisation at THWS. “Not only does this provide our students and employees with access to a powerful tool that supports their academic and research-based activities, it also enables them to gain experience in using artificial intelligence which is relevant for the world of tomorrow.”

Use in line with data protection regulations

THWS accesses the version GPT-4-Turbo. All queries are processed through one single account via the interface HAWKI. HAWKI, developed by the  HAWK University of Applied Sciences  in Hildesheim, Holzminden and Göttingen, specifically targets the needs of higher education institutions: THWS staff and students can register with this interface without their personal data being stored. OpenAI can not allocate queries to individuals; the queries are not used to train ChatGPT. ChatGPT was progressively implemented in the different higher education departments throughout the summer semester.

This to President Professor Dr. Jean Meyer signifies another important step in THWS’ development: “We are excited about the chances ChatGPT opens up to our THWS community and we are curious to see how the technology will be used to promote academic success.”

 

 

Contact:
Technical University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt

Vice President Professor Dr. Kristin Weber

Münzstr. 12

97070 Würzburg

kristin.weber[at]thws.de

 

Press contact:     
Technical University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt

Angela Kreipl

Münzstr. 12

97070 Würzburg

angela.kreipl[at]thws.de

+49 931 3511-8354