Vanderbilt University uses ChatGPT to address MSU shooting

Tennessee’s Vanderbilt University apologized after it used ChatGPT to write a nonsensical email addressing the deadly Michigan State University shooting — which students have blasted as “twisted.”

The bizarre email, sent out Thursday by the Nashville institution’s Peabody Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, made no mention of Vanderbilt-specific resources students could contact for support — and instead included several repetitive paragraphs offering vague thoughts about “creating a safe and inclusive environment.”

It also refers to “recent Michigan shootings,” when there was only one incident, according to the Vanderbilt Hustler, which first reported the story.

At the bottom of the email — in much smaller type — a line reads “Paraphrase from OpenAI’s ChatGPT AI language model, personal communication, February 15, 2023.”

Laith Kayat, a senior at Vanderbilt who is from Michigan and has a younger sister who attends MSU, told the student newspaper it was impersonal and lacked empathy.

“There’s a sick and twisted irony to making a computer write your message about community and togetherness because you can’t be bothered to reflect on it yourself,” Kayat said.

“[Administrators] only care about perception and their institutional politics of saving face.”

Samuel Lu, a sophomore, told the paper he felt that using ChatGPT was disrespectful to gun violence victims.

“It’s hard to take a message seriously when I know that the sender didn’t even take the time to put their genuine thoughts and feelings into words,” Lu said. “In times of tragedies such as this, we need more, not less humanity.”

Nicole Joseph, the associate dean for the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, said the decision to use ChatGPT to write the email was made in “poor judgment.”

“While we believe in the message of inclusivity expressed in the email, using ChatGPT to generate communications on behalf of our community in a time of sorrow and in response to a tragedy contradicts the values that characterize Peabody College,” Joseph apologized in a follow-up email.

“As with all new technologies that affect higher education, this moment gives us all an opportunity to reflect on what we know and what we still must learn about AI.” 

In a statement, Peabody College’s dean of education and human development, Camilla P. Benbow, said her office is reviewing what happened.

Both Joseph and assistant dean Hasina Mohyuddin will step back from their work in the meantime.

Benbow noted that the development and distribution of the initial email did not follow the school’s normal protocols, which generally include multiple layers of review before being sent.

“The university’s administrators, including myself, were unaware of the email before it was sent,” Benbow wrote.

“I am also deeply troubled that a communication from my administration so missed the crucial need for personal connection and empathy during a time of tragedy,” Benbow continued.

“I intend that we shall redouble our efforts to express the values that animate our mission and lead to human flourishing. And I offer my heartfelt apologies to all those who deserved better from us and did not receive it.”