Dear Members of the Yale Community,
As Provost Scott Strobel recently announced, faculty, students, and staff now have access to a growing suite of generative AI tools, resources, and guidelines to support their teaching, learning, research, and work. We encourage you to explore these resources, including the Clarity platform, and engage in continuous learning opportunities.
Numerous AI tools are available to provide you with varied features and capabilities. They include Yale’s secure licensed options (e.g., Copilot, Adobe Firefly, the Clarity platform, and a range of developer tools) and popular no-cost tools. We recommend evaluating which tools best meet your needs and data risk level.
The Clarity platform is an excellent entry point for generative AI, allowing users to input sensitive, confidential, or proprietary data (high-risk data) while minimizing the risk of data being compromised or used to train external AI models. This design aligns with the Yale Task Force on AI’s (YTAI) recommendation to “provid[e] equitable access to a leading, multimodal generative AI tool” that safeguards individual and university data. Through Clarity, secure engagement with AI resources fosters greater flexibility and experimentation as technology and community needs evolve.
The platform’s inaugural tool, the Clarity AI chatbot, powered by OpenAI’s ChatGPT-4o, provides a secure environment to:
As we continue to enhance Clarity’s capabilities this year, the chatbot will offer additional features such as image generation and voice interaction. Additionally, the platform will expand to enable the creation of custom chatbots with access to curated data sets and various large language models. It will also support direct Application Programming Interface (API) access for research, instruction, and application development.
To ensure the best and most secure experience with the platform, review training information and guidance on the appropriate use of Clarity. When using any AI tool, consider the need to apply human judgment and critical thinking. AI-generated outputs can be incorrect or misleading, requiring users to verify and enhance the information provided. As with many commercially available AI tools, Clarity is continuously improving. If you happen to encounter minor issues or bugs, please submit feedback to inform system improvements.
There is a growing collection of resources to assist your learning journey. If you are new to AI, we recommend starting with reviewing courses, videos, and key terms.
Additionally, the Yale Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning is hosting regular AI Office Hours to discuss AI in teaching and learning. A monthly series called “AI Coffee Talks for Humans” launches on Tuesday, September 24, and is open to faculty, staff, and students. The inaugural session will focus on Clarity, and all discussions will provide a casual space for our campus community to experiment with AI applications and explore their cultural and ethical implications.
While we continue implementing the YTAI’s recommendations, community input will be invaluable in shaping our future priorities. Please regularly visit the AI at Yale website to engage with AI tools, discover new learning resources, stay informed about ongoing updates, and share feedback.
As Provost Scott Strobel noted, we must approach AI with curiosity. We hope you will explore Yale’s offerings, which are designed to support you and your contributions to developing, using, and evaluating AI.
Sincerely,
John Barden
Vice President for Technology & Campus Services
Jennifer Frederick
Associate Provost for Academic Initiatives and Executive Director, Yale Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning