From classroom assignments to research labs, artificial intelligence could soon play a larger role in the education of TCU students.
The university has invested $10 million toward “Accelerating Institutional Artificial Intelligence,” or AI². The program is set to launch in the fall of 2026.
Unlike ChatGPT or Copilot, AI² is a powerful AI mainframe that will increase research abilities and is capable of supporting large-scale developments.
Davis Wagnon, a sophomore biochemistry major and student in a research lab that studies organic synthesis, said, “I think you have potential to do a lot of good. This would help with the nitty-gritty work that a lot of professors and researchers spend a lot of their time doing.”
This is an aspect of TCU’s strategy to achieve R1 status, the highest level of research recognition a university can earn.
The effort is being led by Dr. Reuben Burch, the vice provost of research and said AI² will benefit all disciplines.
“I’m excited because of the opportunity this gives to our faculty and students,” Burch said.
Burch came to TCU from Mississippi State, where he also focused on research. He said he once spoke with a Google employee who, when asked if AI was going to take everyone’s job, said, “No, but someone who knows AI is going to take your job.”
Burch added, “I want students to get that job, and this just makes them more prepared for the ever-changing workforce.”
He said the IT group has worked with faculty to design an intuitive dashboard interface, allowing the AI to be multipurpose within a classroom or a research lab.
“You can literally go in and create your own AI computer just for class,” Burch said. “You can input data that won’t go anywhere, and you can even program your own AI, and when you shut it down, it blinks out of existence like it never happened.”
All of the AI hardware will be located on campus, Burch told TCU, but if more power is necessary, it can expand to the cloud.
TCU is not the first university to invest in AI; several R1 universities, including Texas A&M, are buying AI supercomputers, Princeton is increasing its ability to research with artificial intelligence and Stony Brook is launching their own AI system, have made similar advancements.
However, what makes TCU’s approach unique is its focus on the tool being accessible across all disciplines, regardless of major and college, Burch said.
“This is a tool that you can use to help in some way,” he said. “All students are going to use AI, so why not educate them on the best way to use it?”
Burch has focused on establishing four pillars with AI²: tools for teaching, tools for research, research in AI and ethics in AI. “We want people to be able to use it, but we want them protected from themselves and how they use it,” he said.
Moving forward, the AI task force, which was formed with people across campus, will present to an operations board this summer so that by fall, the system can be up and running after extensive testing and governance approval.