Microsoft Copilot

Owned by Michael Tierney
Oct 14, 2024
2 min read

What is Microsoft Copilot?

Copilot is Microsoft’s generic term for their AI enabled products. Rebranded from Bing Chat, Copilot is built on top of ChatGPT and DALL-E 3, offering powerful AI capabilities for free. 

 

UA Approved General Copilot options:

  • Copilot for Work – Ensures UA data protection for @ua.edu and @crimson.ua.edu email logins. 

  • Copilot for Microsoft 365 – Same benefits as Copilot for Work plus includes full integration into MS 365 apps. 

Please note: Microsoft is continually developing and updating Copilot. The information on this page, including login instructions, is current as of August 2024.

Copilot for Work

For work-related tasks, UA provides Copilot for Work with data protection. In this instance, data protection means that: 

  1. Chat data remains within Microsoft, ensuring privacy.

  2. Chat history is not retained.

  3. Data security is priority, safeguarding sensitive information.

  4. Chat messages are not used to train public AI models.

 

To access Copilot for Work:

  1. Visit https://copilot.microsoft.com

  2. Click either the “Sign In” button in the upper right, or click the profile picture, and then click “Sign In”

  3. If prompted, select “Sign in work work or school account”

  4. Log in with your UA O365 credentials, including Duo if needed

  5. In the upper right corner, you will see an indicator that data protection is enabled

Screenshot of older copilot with green shield indicating commercial data protection is active
Older Copilot Versions
Screenshot of newer copilot with white shield indicating commercial data protection is active
Newer Copilot Versions

 

Copilot for Microsoft 365

 

Copilot for Microsoft 365 is integrated into your Microsoft 365 apps like Teams, Outlook, Word, and Excel and can help you generate documents, emails, PowerPoint slides, and analyze data. Used during meetings, Copilot can review meeting transcripts, generate action items, and summarize email chains.

Copilot for MS365 uses a private version of ChatGPT combined with Microsoft Graph to generate responses.

OIT conducted an 8-week pilot of this service and has now made it available to departments at an annual departmental cost of $360 per user. Contact the IT Service Desk for more information.

 

Copilot Resources

 Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365 overview

 Microsoft Copilot for Work overview

 Learn about Copilot prompts

 Get Better results with Copilot prompting

 The art and science of prompting Microsoft 365 Copilot (pdf)

Security Resources

When using AI tools, be sure to adhere to OIT’s AI Minimum Security Standard.

UA’s approved list of AI Tools - OIT Cybersecurity office continually reviews and updates it’s list of approved and prohibited AI tools.

Faculty should also consult the guidelines provided by Academic Affairs. Guideline for Faculty in Dealing with the Use of AI Tools