The idea for an AI Institute at Florida Gulf Coast University dates back to before OpenAI released ChatGPT in the fall of 2022. Founded in Aug. 2023, the FGCU Dendritic Institute is a hub for all things AI and data science, from research to education to community outreach. FGCU recently announced a multi-year initiative focusing on responsible, ethical and practical use of AI to enhance teaching, learning, researching and collaborating, so we sit down with the Dendritic Institute's founding director Dr. Leandro de Castro to get the Institute’s origin story and what lies ahead.