Cal Poly's ChatGPT: A Resource or a Dependency?
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In February 2025, the Cal State system signed a $17 million contract with OpenAI that granted Cal State students, faculty and staff free access to ChatGPT Edu through July 2026. This AI initiative has been met with mixed reactions. Aside from ethical concerns with cheating, it raises a watershed of environmental and philosophical dilemmas.
Emily Niebuhr is an English junior and an opinion columnist for Mustang News. The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of Mustang Media Group. You’ve got a date tonight, and this time, he’s different. He’s reliable, he compliments you and he agrees with you about nearly everything. He speaks intelligently, eloquently weaving together threads of information from every corner of the internet. His name is ChatGPT, and Cal Poly personally introduced you two. But who’s really behind the seductive glow of your laptop screen? That’s Sam Altman, OpenAI’s CEO, and someone just threw a Molotov cocktail through his window. Evidently, not everyone’s relationship with AI is going so well. In February 2025, the Cal State system signed a $17 million contract with OpenAI that granted Cal State students, faculty and staff free access to ChatGPT Edu through July 2026. This AI initiative has been met with mixed reactions. Aside from ethical concerns with cheating, it raises a watershed of environmental and philosophical dilemmas. READ MORE: Cal State system AI initiative sparks faculty concerns regarding privacy We need to ask ourselves how heavily we should rely on AI and consider how it’s impacting our ecosystems. It’s a sensitive topic because so many of us have mindlessly folded AI into our study routines. The uncomfortable reality is that every seemingly inconsequential conversation with ChatGPT increases the demand for energy and water, resources we ar...
