UNSW Teams with OpenAI to Equip 80,000 Students for AI Future

UNSW Sydney has struck a major strategic partnership with OpenAI that will give more than 80,000 students and staff access to ChatGPT Edu, marking one of the largest AI education deployments in the Asia-Pacific region. The collaboration forms a central pillar of the university’s broader push to prepare graduates who can use artificial intelligence critically, ethically and effectively in the workplace.

Access to ChatGPT Edu is already being rolled out this week to Higher Degree Research candidates and casual academic staff, building on earlier availability for professional and academic staff. UNSW plans to extend the tools across its full student body ahead of the 2027 academic year. The university is simultaneously designing a multi-model AI environment so students and staff can experiment with a range of AI systems as the technology continues to evolve.

Professor Sarah Maddison, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Education and Student Experience, said the goal is clear: produce AI-capable graduates. “Our ambition is to produce AI capable graduates,” she said. “And to do that, we need to offer our students access to a range of AI tools to improve their capability and exposure and experience with AI tools, specifically tools that are being used in the industries to which they will likely go into.”

Second-year Master of IT student Nalin Iyer, Vice President of Engineering with the UNSW AI Society, welcomed the move. “AI is here to stay. The technology is only getting better, so it’s about learning how to use it effectively rather than rejecting it altogether,” he said. “You have to keep up with the changes and be ready for what’s coming next. In the past, you could learn a programming language and feel confident it would help you get a job. Now, things are moving much faster. It’s important to understand what industry is looking for and how AI fits into that, because it’s becoming part of the way we work.”

UNSW has embedded academic integrity at the heart of its approach through a “Can, Can’t, Must” framework for AI use in assessment. Under the rules, educators specify when students may use AI tools in defined ways (“Can”), when AI is prohibited because independent demonstration of knowledge is required (“Can’t”), and when students must use AI as part of the task to build critical literacy and discipline-specific skills (“Must”).

Professor Paul Andon, Dean of the Business School and UNSW Executive Lead of AI, said the technology is forcing universities to redesign learning and assessment while protecting foundational skills. “We have a responsibility to ensure our learning experiences reflect the reality of the world our students are entering. AI is increasingly being used in workplaces across almost every profession, so students need opportunities to use these tools appropriately as part of their learning,” he said. “That means thinking differently about learning and assessment. Approaches that worked in the past, like take-home assignments, may not always be the best fit in an AI-enabled world. At the same time, there will always be areas where students need to demonstrate foundational knowledge and skills independently. The key is ensuring curricula and assessments are fit for purpose and aligned to the learning outcomes we want students to achieve.”

In the classroom, academics are already using AI to accelerate course redesign as the university shifts from trimesters to semesters. Senior Lecturer and Nexus Fellow May Lim said knowledge recall alone is no longer enough. “We’re updating our courses to make them more appropriate for a world where AI is readily available. Knowledge recall on its own is no longer as valuable as it once was. Instead, we’re looking at how students can apply their knowledge in authentic ways that are relevant to their discipline and demonstrate their capabilities,” she said. “I work with colleagues to redesign their courses.

For many academics, that’s a significant shift. If you’ve been teaching a course for 10 or 20 years and it has looked largely the same over that time, it can be difficult to imagine what it might look like after this transformation. We’re using AI to create prototypes and examples of new assessment approaches, helping academics visualise what redesigned courses and assessments could look like. That allows us to transform courses more quickly and create learning experiences that are more engaging and meaningful for students.”

Beyond teaching, the partnership will deliver workforce-aligned curriculum, discipline-specific playbooks and staff training. Researchers will gain support for AI-assisted literature reviews, data summarisation, domain modelling, coding and secure research workflows. Students will put skills into practice through hackathons, build challenges and industry projects spanning health, climate, defence, fintech and cybersecurity.

Also Read: OpenAI Launches Interactive Math and Science Tools in ChatGPT

UNSW and OpenAI also plan to create pathways linking students to internships, graduate roles, startup ecosystems and NSW innovation networks, while translating research into real-world impact through pilots with government and industry partners.

OpenAI Managing Director for Asia Pacific Kiran Mani praised the university’s ambition. “Australian students want to do more than learn about AI. They want to use it to build companies, advance research and solve real-world problems,” he said. “UNSW is setting a new benchmark for the AI-native graduate.”

The partnership positions UNSW at the forefront of responsible AI adoption in higher education. By combining broad tool access with clear integrity frameworks, redesigned assessment and strong industry links, the university aims to ensure its graduates enter the workforce ready to harness AI rather than be displaced by it. As the technology continues its rapid advance, UNSW’s multi-model strategy and commitment to ethical use offer a practical blueprint for other institutions navigating the same transformation.