Co-Creator of ChatGPT Greg Brockman to speak at UND

Sep. 13—GRAND FORKS — Greg Brockman, co-creator of the popular artificial intelligence application ChatGPT, will speak at UND as part of an ongoing discussion about the software's implications for higher education and society at large.

Brockman, a native of Thompson, North Dakota, attended courses and conducted research at UND while still a student at Red River High School, graduating in 2007.

In 2015, Brockman co-founded the research firm Open AI, which in turn developed ChatGPT in November 2022.

David Dodds, UND director of communications, said the university is "proud to have such a connection to somebody like Greg Brockman." He added that Brockman's visit comes at a critical juncture for the future of artificial intelligence.

"Wherever you go, it seems like people are talking about artificial intelligence," Dodds said. "Where it's going, what its potential is and what kinds of impacts it will have on society. How does higher ed learn to embrace artificial intelligence, because it's not going away. We need to figure out how to use this tool, and if we need to, how to teach differently to use it as an advantage and prepare students for the workforce of the future."

Dodds said the format of Brockman's speech will be an onstage conversation with UND President Andrew Armacost, with a question and answer session to follow. It will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 26, in the large ballroom at UND's Memorial Union. The event will also be broadcast online via YouTube and Facebook live.

The conversation will be followed by a panel discussion titled "Promise and Peril of AI in Higher Education," hosted by Ryan Zerr, associate vice president for strategy and implementation at UND. The six panelists comprise UND faculty from multiple disciplines including computer science, law, mathematics, entrepreneurship and management, writing and theater arts.

"The goal was to try not to focus on just the STEM side of higher ed, and rather, be a bit broader based," Zerr said. "We might easily imagine that there will be implications for all of us."

Zerr — who was one of Brockman's instructors at UND — also said his ties to the area are evidence that groundbreaking achievements are not confined to any specific geographical location.

"I think there's something very meaningful to the local connection," "Whether we're in Grand Forks or anywhere else, we all can be put into situations and presented with opportunities that lead to some pretty amazing and potentially world changing work."