Curious about artificial intelligence? Whether you're just starting out or already building your own AI projects, the Garnet AI Foundry is your gateway to exploring, learning and creating with AI at the University of South Carolina.
ChatGPT is a web-based AI assistant that helps students quickly draft essays, summarize readings, brainstorm ideas and get help with studying or organizing tasks. It’s a flexible tool for learning and productivity, offering instant support through natural, conversational interaction.
University Policies
ChatGPT is an AI system that generates natural, conversational responses. Unlike search engines, which only retrieve links and documents from the web, ChatGPT generates original text responses based on its training and (in many cases) integrated tools like web search. ChatGPT can also combine reasoning, writing and data analysis in a single conversation.
Yes. It’s especially useful for brainstorming, outlining, summarizing and refining drafts. Whether you can use it for final submissions depends on your institution’s policies. Always check your academic integrity guidelines.
USC encourages responsible use, such as citing when AI has meaningfully contributed or leveraging an AI Reflection form, but using it to replace your own original thinking without disclosure may violate policy.
Yes, ChatGPT can format citations and provide references, and users have the ability to both upload files or specify their trusted public web sources to reference.
GPT-5’s knowledge cut-off is October 2024, however with web search, GPT-5 augments responses by accessing the latest public information and research. Further, when searching for the latest information, a user can specify which trusted sources (URLs) should be prioritized for review and citation.
Yes - for brainstorming, structuring and polishing writing. It’s a powerful writing assistant, but using it for full assignments without permission may breach academic rules.
This is one of the best use cases with lots of tools already available. Check out Study Mode (selected with the + symbol when starting a new chat). It can create practice questions, quiz you, explain tricky concepts, and build customized study guides. Users have the ability to upload files directly with Study Mode to focus in on specific material. “QuizGPT” can be called in a chat to generate flashcards, as well!
Yes. It can explain advanced topics at multiple levels, from beginner-friendly analogies to graduate-level detail. Try prompting, “Explain [topic] like I’m 12” or “Teach me the most important 20% of this topic to help me understand the other 80%” Still, verify important details against instructor materials or peer-reviewed sources.
Yes. it can walk through equations, show reasoning and debug code. Errors are still possible, so double-check results against trusted methods or compilers.
Absolutely. You can practice dialogues, review grammar, translate, and build vocabulary. Many learners use ChatGPT as a 24/7 conversation partner. Voice mode enables natural conversation and translation in every major language.
Faculty use it to brainstorm lesson ideas, draft rubrics or generate practice exercises. Outputs should be reviewed for accuracy and tailored to the course context.
Yes, faculty can generate customized educational content, adjusting for tone, complexity and subject matter.
Key principles: transparency, fairness and accuracy. Disclose AI use to students, avoid overreliance in grading and protect student data privacy.
Yes. It can role-play or generate scenarios that bring concepts to life, supporting active and experiential learning. Asking ChatGPT to respond as-though they’re a particular persona or with “XYZ objective” is enough to get started.
Yes. That’s why faculty should emphasize AI as a supplement, not a replacement, for independent thinking and creativity.
USC’s Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE) provides guidance, training, professional development opportunities and sample policies
for responsible AI use.
Only you will be able to read your conversations. Visit OpenAI's security policy.
No. Conversations and data entered into ChatGPT Edu are not used to train or improve OpenAI’s models. The University of South Carolina’s ChatGPT
Edu environment comes with education-specific privacy and protection features, including:
Disclose AI use where required. Verify AI-generated content. Avoid inputting confidential or sensitive data.
USC understands the concerns about sustainability around artificial intelligence and doesn’t take those lightly. The university is committed to creating a more sustainable future across campus and has taken efforts to make campus more energy efficient. We currently have 27 sustainable buildings on campus and recently started the Garnet Bites program to prevent food waste.
The university’s partnership with companies like OpenAI provides a leadership opportunity to learn, evaluate and advocate for sustainability across campus. We’re committed to pioneering not only AI innovation across the state but also renewable energy initiatives to build a better tomorrow.
The IT Service Desk is your single point of contact for IT-related questions and support. Give us a call at 803-777-1800 or submit a ticket through the IT Service Portal.
