The following message was sent to members of the Rice community July 23:
Dear Faculty and Staff,
Responsible AI is foundational to achieving the strategic goals and vision set forth in Momentous, Rice’s 10-year strategic plan. To further empower the campus to maximize the use of AI for premier teaching, research and operations, we’ve expanded access to a broader set of tools. All faculty and staff members now have access to the FERPA-compliant Google Gemini and NotebookLM through their Rice accounts. This initiative reflects Rice University’s commitment to integrating cutting-edge technology to empower you with advanced AI capabilities across your teaching, research and administrative work.
Meet Your New AI Tools
- Google Gemini: Your intelligent AI assistant for summarizing content, generating ideas, accelerating writing and supporting research. Features like “Deep Research” help quickly distill academic papers and provide insight-driven summaries.
- NotebookLM: Designed to help you interact with your own content — whether PDFs, documents, web links or transcripts — NotebookLM synthesizes across sources to surface insights and support content creation grounded in your materials.
Access With Your Rice NetID
Simply log in to Rice’s Google Gemini and NotebookLM with your NetID. When accessing the tools, ensure you are using your Rice credentials by clicking on your profile in the upper right corner and selecting your Rice account. If you encounter any difficulty logging in, please contact the OIT Help Desk.
Use AI Responsibly
As you begin to explore these tools, please keep in mind:
- Always verify AI-generated content to ensure it’s accurate.
- Be mindful of bias and copyright issues.
- Follow university policies on data protection, appropriate technology use and AI.
Learn, Explore and Connect
Whether you’re just getting started or ready to dive deeper, Rice offers a variety of resources to support your use of Gemini and NotebookLM:
- AI Training Resources: Explore guides, how-tos and practical tips for getting the most out of Rice’s AI tools.
- AI in Education: Visit Rice Digital Learning’s AI in Education webpage for resources and updates. A new faculty program launches this fall, featuring an on-demand course and opportunities to explore responsible AI use in teaching and research.
What’s Next
We’re excited to see how these tools will support your work, and how they might inspire new ways to collaborate and innovate. We’ll continue sharing updates, including the rollout to students, as the semester approaches. And, soon, we will roll out several additional resources and initiatives that will assist everyone from the novice to those who are already leveraging AI to advance teaching, research and operations. Be on the lookout for a future communication outlining Rice’s current and new AI initiatives.
Warm regards,
Amy Dittmar
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs
Kelly Fox
Executive Vice President for Operations, Finance & Support