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In an effort to “address the implications” of artificial intelligence, the Lilly Endowment is launching a $500 million initiative to provide funding to Indiana colleges and universities to support the study of AI and develop strategies for its use.
The initiative announced this week, called Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education, or AIHE, is expected to “support Indiana colleges and universities in their ongoing efforts to address the implications of a rapidly evolving technology in their institutions and the lives of their students,” Lilly Endowment said.
The endowment said it plans to allocate a total of up to $500 million in funding to eligible higher education institutions in Indiana through AIHE.
“Indiana colleges and universities are facing unprecedented challenges and opportunities arising from advances in AI,” Lilly Endowment Chairman and CEO N. Clay Robbins said in written comments. “Higher education leaders have told us that their institutions are working as expeditiously as they can to discern how to best take advantage of the opportunities arising from AI and mitigate the potential unintended consequences this increasingly prevalent technology may have in their institutions and the lives of their students. They are intensely focused on how they can effectively prepare their students to succeed in a future in which AI will be increasingly ubiquitous.”
The goal of the initiative is two-fold, the endowment said:
- to help Indiana colleges and universities consider more fully the challenges and opportunities that artificial intelligence presents for their institutions and their students
- to help Indiana colleges and universities develop new or enhance existing strategies and programs to improve their students’ education opportunities and outcomes and their preparation to prosper in the workplace and life in a future that will be increasingly shaped by AI.
The endowment said it recognizes that state schools are in various stages of studies and development of AI-related strategies.
“Given this and the great variety in the missions and contexts of Indiana’s colleges and universities, the nature of support to be provided through AIHE is purposefully broad to encourage eligible institutions to consider how they might address AI-related challenges and opportunities in ways that are particularly relevant to them,” the endowment said. “The endowment, therefore, anticipates awarding grants to support a wide range of projects.”
Colleges and universities have three ways to apply for funding in amounts based on student enrollment under AIHE:
- Request planning grants ranging from $125,000 to $300,000 to help them explore ways in which they may address AI-related challenges and opportunities and prepare proposals for implementation grants.
- Submit proposals for implementation grants ranging from $5 million to $25 million that will help colleges and universities implement new or expand existing compelling projects that address AI-related challenges and opportunities relevant to their institutions and students.
- Work with one or more other Indiana colleges and universities to propose collaborative projects that the Endowment will consider funding with grants of up to $40 million.
The endowment said “extraordinarily compelling collaborative proposals may be funded at higher amounts.” It also said it expects to award AIHE planning grants by the end of 2025, and to announce implementation and collaboration grant awards by the end of 2026.
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