Introducing BullsAI for UB research and teaching

UBIT is collaborating with the Department of AI and Society to develop the BullsAI platform, an initiative to bring artificial intelligence directly into the classroom. Pilot phases are currently underway. 

BullsAI is designed to support users with both technical and non-technical experience, offering a suite of applications and services tailored to diverse academic needs. Among them:

• BullsAI Chat, UB’s own ChatGPT-like tool that will be the first application rolled out. Faculty and student pilot groups will use it to assist with text, image and document-based tasks. 

• BullsAI Agents, customizable assistants that combine prompts with curated document libraries. For example, students will be able to create an AI Tutor that answers questions based on a specific course curriculum. 

• BullsAI Labs, an easy setup environment for hands-on coding and data science tasks, offering an environment for classrooms or independent study. 

BullsAI is hosted locally on UB’s network, ensuring compliance with SUNY’s Information Security Policy (SUNY 6900) and maintaining the highest standards of data privacy and integrity.  

With a secure, local environment, personal data is protected at UB. The work of teachers and researchers will not be used to train external AI models. All information will remain within the institution.

At the heart of the BullsAI platform are four NVIDIA DGX B200 servers equipped with 448 CPU cores and 32 GPUs, enabling high-performance computing for demanding AI applications and large-scale data processing. The infrastructure was developed in-house by staff from across UBIT. 

“BullsAI is about giving every UB student the tools to explore, create and learn in ways that were never possible before,” says Heath Tuttle, vice president and chief information officer. “By making AI accessible and secure on campus, we’re opening doors for innovation across every discipline — from engineering to the arts — while ensuring students can experiment confidently in a protected environment.”

UBIT is seeking input from faculty to tailor AI resources to specific teaching and research needs, and will provide training, support and forums for ongoing collaboration.

Pilot phases for BullsAI are currently underway and will continue into the spring.

Anyone who has questions, feedback or needs training can submit a ticket to the UBIT Help Center.

AI available now: Microsoft Copilot Chat

UBIT staff note that faculty, staff and students can now use Microsoft Copilot Chat by logging in with their UBITName and password.

Once signed in, Microsoft will never use any information that users input or obtain from a Microsoft Copilot Chat session to train AI models.

As with all generative AI tools, UB students should check with each instructor about its appropriate use to ensure that they are abiding by the university’s academic integrity policy.