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Nicole Joseph and Hasina Mohyuddin: Vanderbilt University deans suspended for using ChatGPT to email students about MSU shooting

Vanderbilt University in Tennessee issued an apology after using ChatGPT to produce a 297-word email in response to the fatal shooting at Michigan State University
PUBLISHED FEB 22, 2023
After the MSU shooting, the Peabody Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion sent students a message via email encouraging them to 'take care of each other' (@coachjoeylynch, @AWMmath, and @nashvillebiz/Twitter)
After the MSU shooting, the Peabody Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion sent students a message via email encouraging them to 'take care of each other' (@coachjoeylynch, @AWMmath, and @nashvillebiz/Twitter)

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE: The management sent an odd message to Peabody College students at Vanderbilt University who struggled to process the news of last week's horrific shooting at Michigan State University. Vanderbilt University in Tennessee issued an apology after using ChatGPT to produce a 297-word email in response to the fatal shooting at Michigan State University, which students have criticized as being "twisted." Associate Dean Nicole Joseph and Hasina Mohyuddin, who approved the email, have taken a temporary leave of absence while the Peabody EDI office "reviews" the circumstances.

After the MSU shooting, the Peabody Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion sent students a message via email on February 16, 2023, encouraging them to "take care of each other." The email appeared to be helpful and gave students advice on how to foster a loving community among their classmates. However, it was actually an automated email, as was made clear at the very bottom. It read, "Paraphrase from OpenAI's ChatGPT AI language model, personal communication, February 15, 2023."

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Contents of the email

According to the DailyMail, the strange email was sent out by the Peabody Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at Vanderbilt University on February 16. It didn't mention any Vanderbilt-specific resources students could use for support and instead included several paragraphs offering general advice on "creating a safe and inclusive environment." Three employees at the Office of Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion at the Peabody College of Education and Human Development at Vanderbilt University, including Joseph, signed the email.

According to the Vanderbilt Hustler student newspaper, which broke the story first, a smaller line of text in brackets at the bottom of the message showed that it had been produced using the generative AI tool ChatGPT. The letter was a paraphrased version of a ChatGPT-written draft, according to Peabody College Dean Camilla Benbow, who stated in a statement on Saturday that Vanderbilt will investigate the judgment to create and deliver the message.

The email appeared to be sensitive and kind, but it was clear it wasn't written by a human at the very bottom (Vanderbilt University Peabody College)
The email appeared to be sensitive and kind, but it was clear it wasn't written by a human (Vanderbilt University Peabody College)

Benbow pointed out that the initial email was not created and distributed following standard school protocols, which typically call for multiple levels of review before being distributed.

What parents and students are saying?

The students were disgusted by the email. This includes Laith Kayat, who is from Michigan and has a sister who studies at MSU. He told Vanderbilt Hustler, "There is 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."

A sophomore named Samuel Lu told the student newspaper, "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 word. In times of tragedies such as this, we need more, not less humanity."

The university promptly apologized after receiving criticism from students for utilizing a chatbot to speak to a distressed campus community following the shooting in Michigan. One of the three signatories of the letter, Nicole Joseph issued an apology the following day and said that utilizing ChatGPT was "poor judgment."

Joseph's apology email reads, "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."

What happened at MSU?

On February 13, 2023, at MSU, Anthony Dwayne McRae, 43, shot three students dead before turning the gun on himself. He killed sophomore Brian Fraser, junior Alexandria Verner, and junior Arielle Anderson while terrorizing the students on campus for four hours. At 8.18 pm, McRae started firing, killing the three and injuring five more.

Alexandria "Alex" Verner, a 2020 graduate of Clawson High School, was a student at MSU studying biology and anthropology with a 2024 graduation date planned. Graduate of Grosse Pointe South, Brian Fraser, 20, was enrolled in MSU to pursue a business degree. Deelishis, a reality TV star on 'Flavor of Love', identified the third victim as her 19-year-old niece Arielle Diamond Anderson.

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