Incident 482: ChatGPT-Assisted University Email Addressing Mass Shooting Denounced by Students

Description: Vanderbilt University's Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion used ChatGPT to write an email addressing student body about the 2023 Michigan State University shooting, which was condemned as "impersonal" and "lacking empathy".

Tools

New ReportNew ReportNew ResponseNew ResponseDiscoverDiscoverView HistoryView History
Alleged: OpenAI developed an AI system deployed by Vanderbilt University, which harmed Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt University students.

Incident Stats

Incident ID
482
Report Count
20
Incident Date
2023-02-16
Editors
Khoa Lam
Peabody EDI Office responds to MSU shooting with email written using ChatGPT
vanderbilthustler.com · 2023

UPDATED_: This piece was updated on Feb. 17, 2023, at 7:30 p.m. CST to include an apology from the EDI Office. It was further updated on Feb. 17, 2023, at 9:05 p.m. CST to include a statement from the university about its use of AI in gener…

A college apologized for using ChatGPT to write an email to students about the Michigan State University shooting
businessinsider.com · 2023

Staff at Vanderbilt University have apologised for "poor judgement" after using ChatGPT to write a condolence email in the wake of Monday's shooting at Michigan State University that left three students dead.

The email was sent on Thursday …

Vanderbilt staff used ChatGPT to write email to students about MSU shooting
independent.co.uk · 2023

Vanderbilt University staff have apologized for using ChatGPT to write a condolence email in the wake of the Michigan State University shooting that saw three students murdered.

Officials at the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at …

Vanderbilt University Staff Used ChatGPT To Write Email On MSU Shooting
buzzfeednews.com · 2023

Staff members at Vanderbilt University sent an email to students using text generated by artificial intelligence to respond to the shooting at Michigan State University that killed three students.

The email, which was sent by the Peabody Of…

Vanderbilt Staff Used AI to Email Students About the Michigan State Shooting
motherjones.com · 2023

After the recent shooting at the University of Michigan, staff at Vanderbilt University in Nashville sent an email offering support and comfort to students. “In the wake of the Michigan shootings,” it read, referring to the February 13 atta…

Peabody EDI deans to temporarily step back following ChatGPT-crafted message about MSU shooting
vanderbilthustler.com · 2023

Nicole Joseph, associate dean of Peabody College’s Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, and Hasina Mohyuddin, assistant dean of the office, will temporarily step back from their positions, according to a Feb. 18 email to the Peabody c…

Vanderbilt College DEI Office Sends Michigan Shooting Condolence Message Drafted by AI Bot
nationalreview.com · 2023

Vanderbilt University's education school has apologized after sending a condolence message to staff and students regarding a recent shooting at Michigan State University that was drafted by ChatGPT, the artificial intelligence-powered chat …

Vanderbilt University staff apologizes after ChatGPT was used to write email about MSU shooting
cbsnews.com · 2023

(CBS DETROIT) - Vanderbilt University staff apologized after an email sent to students reflecting on the tragic Michigan State University shooting was written using Open AI's ChatGPT. 

The original email was sent out on Thursday, Feb. 16, a…

Vanderbilt staff apologizes after using AI to send campus email about Michigan State shooting
foxnews.com · 2023

Members of the Vanderbilt staff apologized on Friday for using ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence (AI) generator, to send an email to students calling for the community to come together following the shooting at Michigan State University.

Vanderbilt University writes a condolence letter with ChatGPT
donga.com · 2023

Vanderbilt University, which wrote a statement of condolence for the recent shooting spree at Michigan State University, the U.S. with interactive artificial intelligence (AI) ‘ChatGPT,’ has officially apologized for the strong criticism it…

Vanderbilt University uses ChatGPT to address MSU shooting: ‘Sick’
nypost.com · 2023

Tennessee’s Vanderbilt University apologized after it used ChatGPT to write a nonsensical email addressing the deadly Michigan State University shooting — which students have blasted as “twisted.”

The bizarre email, sent out Thursday by the…

A Vanderbilt Dean Used ChatGPT to Write Email About MSU Shooting
gizmodo.com · 2023

The prize for the most disgusting use of ChatGPT yet goes to Vanderbilt University, which used the chatbot to generate an email to students about the Feb. 13 mass shooting at Michigan State University.

Since its internet debut, OpenAI’s Cha…

University Apologizes for Sending Email About Mass Shooting Written With ChatGPT
futurism.com · 2023

If you're going to send an official email on a sensitive and grim topic, you probably shouldn't generate it using AI. That's the lesson that two deans at Vanderbilt University learned the hard way last week when they thought (for some reaso…

This University Used ChatGPT to Tell Students About a Mass Shooting
thestreet.com · 2023

Thanks to its ever-growing base of knowledge input by users, the artificial intelligence chatbot known as ChatGPT can be used in a myriad of ways.

There are some uses that seem like common sense to avoid, but the Peabody Office of Equity, D…

University Apologizes for Using AI to Write Letter to Students About Shooting
me.pcmag.com · 2023

Last week, staff at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee wrote a thoughtful and heartfelt letter about coming together as a community in response to the mass shooting at Michigan State University. But it turns out the letter itself came from …

Vanderbilt apologizes for using ChatGPT in email about MSU shooting
dailymail.co.uk · 2023

Vanderbilt University has apologized for using artificial intelligence to write a 297-word email to students after the Michigan State University mass shooting, causing two deans to temporarily step down. 

The Peabody Office of Equity, Diver…

Vanderbilt Responds to MSU Shooting Using ChatGPT
newser.com · 2023

Staff at Vanderbilt University's office of equity, diversity, and inclusion took an unconventional approach to their letter to students following the deadly shooting at Michigan State: They used ChatGPT to write it. Thursday's letter, which…

Vanderbilt slammed for AI bot message on Michigan State shooting. ‘Sick and twisted’
miamiherald.com · 2023

Days after the deadly shooting at Michigan State University on Feb. 13, students at a university in Tennessee got an email of solidarity from their own administration.

"Let us come together as a community to reaffirm our commitment to carin…

Vanderbilt apologizes for ChatGPT-generated letter on Michigan State shooting
cbsnews.com · 2023

Vanderbilt University is drawing heat from its student body for using ChatGPT to generate a communitywide letter addressing the recent mass shooting at Michigan State University

The office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) at Vande…

Vanderbilt apologizes for using ChatGPT to write message on MSU shooting
washingtonpost.com · 2023

As students at Vanderbilt University's Peabody College grappled with the news of a deadly shooting at Michigan State University last week, those in the education college received an odd message from the administration.

The Thursday email fr…

Variants

A "variant" is an incident that shares the same causative factors, produces similar harms, and involves the same intelligent systems as a known AI incident. Rather than index variants as entirely separate incidents, we list variations of incidents under the first similar incident submitted to the database. Unlike other submission types to the incident database, variants are not required to have reporting in evidence external to the Incident Database. Learn more from the research paper.