Sept. 26: Conversation with ChatGPT Co-Creator Greg Brockman: An Upson Lecture Series Event followed by “Promise & Peril of AI in Higher Education”

One of the tech-wiz fathers of a revolutionary computer app that’s changing the way humans think about everything is coming back to the University of North Dakota where he once studied and conducted research while still in high school.

Join UND President Andy Armacost as he hosts Greg Brockman, co-creator of ChatGPT, from 1-1:45 p.m., on Tuesday, Sept. 26, for a special conversation on the future of artificial intelligence in society, as well as Brockman’s ties to the area and the trajectory of his life and career. ChatGPT is one of the world’s fastest growing consumer apps with a net worth of nearly $30 billion.

President Armacost currently heads up the North Dakota University System’s Artificial Intelligence Task Force, formed to create strategies to navigate through potential impacts of AI in higher education. The task force comprises the leaders of the system’s 11 institutions.

President Armacost’s conversation with Brockman will be followed by a UND expert panel discussion on the “Promise & Peril of AI in Higher Education.” The panel will be hosted by Ryan Zerr, a longtime UND professor of mathematics who now serves as the University’s associate vice president for strategy & implementation. Zerr also taught Brockman in UND classes when the future tech innovator was still attending Red River High School.

Zerr will be joined for the panel discussion, from 1:45 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., by fellow UND faculty members: Ryan Adams (Computer Science & Electrical Engineering), Carolyn Williams (Law), Emily Cherry Oliver (Theatre Arts), Anna Kinney (coordinator of the University Writing Program), Patrick Schultz (Entrepreneurship & Management) and Bryce Christopherson (Mathematics).

Both the conversation and the panel discussion will be held in person in the large ballroom on the second floor of the UND Memorial Union, 2901 University Avenue, in Grand Forks. Or you can attend virtually via YouTube or Facebook Live. The events also will be live streamed on the large screen monitor above the Social Staircase in the heart of the Memorial Union.

The events, which are funded by the University’s Upson Family fund, are free and open to the public.

Limited audience Q&A opportunities will be provided at the events.

More about Greg Brockman:

Brockman, who was raised in Thompson, N.D., and is a graduate of Red River High School in Grand Forks, is the co-founder and president of OpenAI, a research and deployment company whose mission is to ensure general-purpose artificial intelligence benefits for all of humanity. Before OpenAI, he was the founding engineer and CTO of Stripe, which he helped build from 4 to 250 employees.

Streaming Information:

Conversation with ChatGPT Co-creator Greg Brockman: YouTube or Facebook Live

UND panel discussion on ‘Promise & Peril of AI in Higher Education’: YouTube or Facebook Live