Microsoft CoPilot

1. Navigate to copilot.microsoft.com
2. Click Sign in
3. Click Sign in with a work or school account
4. Click on your @buffalo.edu email address
5. When you are switched to a UB login screen, enter your UBITName password and click Sign in
   
6. Start using AI  

Use Copilot to:

• Quickly make sense of long web pages, PDFs, and other documents
• Craft and polish your writing 
• Create images for articles, social media, and more

Instructors can use Copilot to personalize learning, plan lessons, and improve efficiency.

Your queries won't train AI

When you log into Microsoft Copilot using your UB @buffalo.edu email address, you authenticate back to UB and enter your UBITName password. Your queries are then not saved, and will not be used to train AI. All your information is deleted when you end your session.

Copilot uses an advanced GPT-4 AI model to generate answers using up-to-date information. When using Copilot, enter prompts into the text box – you can use natural language to ask detailed questions or share what you’re looking for in a response.

• More effective queries are made in full sentences, with a lot of detail and specifics, and with tone, purpose, desired length and format
• Queries that are just a few words or have little to no details on preferred outcome are less successful

Who can use Microsoft Copilot at UB?

Microsoft Copilot is available to UB faculty, and staff with an A5 license. It will be available to UB students beginning February 2024.

What does Copilot use?

Copilot runs off of GPT-4.

What kind of questions can you ask Copilot?

Think of Copilot as a new, more powerful way to search the internet for answers. If you’re trying to learn about a new topic, start your prompt with “Explain this” or “how come.” If you have a lot of different articles with multiple perspectives on a topic, but still can’t make a design, try asking, “Compare this option and another option in the form of a table” or “Give me the pros and cons on <topic of interest>.” And if you need more help with making content, you can ask Copilot to “write an email based on bullet points pasted below,” or “Create an image” in a specific style.  

Copilot cannot answer questions about your work data, such as your emails, chats, and files, because it does not have access to those items. Copilot in Edge can answer questions about the tab you have open in your browser, including work content, if you have provided permission. After your session is closed or timed out, the content is discarded because Copilot protects company data.

Are my searches shared back to Microsoft or UB?

No, they remain secure within UB's tenant and are deleted at the end of every session.

How do I know that I’m in the protected experience of Copilot?

When you’re in the protected experience of Copilot, you’ll find the green “Protected” badge next to the sign-in credentials in the top right corner. Above the text box, you’ll find a sentence that reads “Your personal and company data are protected in this chat.”  If you don’t find these cues, you don’t have data protection for your AI chat. To fix this, sign at copilot.microsoft.com with your work account.

What kinds of information can I use with copilot?

When using any type of generative AI (Microsoft Copilot or others) it's important to maintain alignment with the university's data classification standard. Category 1 (Protected PII or regulated) should NEVER be included in generative AI prompts or inputs. Category 2 (Internal Use Data) can be included in Microsoft Copilot prompts when authenticated using your UBITName and password. Category 3 (Public Data) can be included in generative AI prompts with Microsoft Copilot.