• What is Copilot?
• How can Copilot assist me?
• How do I access Copilot?
• Understanding Copilot's limitations
• Is my data secure with Copilot?
• Using Copilot for the first time
• Additional features
  • Image generation
  • Conversation style
• What are the differences between Copilot and ChatGPT?
• Next steps

What is Copilot?

Microsoft Copilot is a generative AI-powered chatbot, capable of understanding and interacting using human language. It’s akin to an advanced digital assistant that’s designed to converse, draft written content, and provide informative responses, based as text-based inputs by the user known as "prompts."

Note: This document covers the web-based chat tool (Microsoft Copilot) which is currently freely available to SF State faculty, staff, and students. It does not include Copilot Pro, which includes an advanced version of the chatbot as well as integration with the Microsoft 365 Office suite.

How can Copilot assist me?

Copilot can assist with a variety of tasks in a university setting:

• Educational support: Create quizzes, summaries, and engaging content for students.
• Research aid: Assist with literature reviews, data analysis, and generating research ideas.
• Administrative efficiency: Streamline email responses, schedule management, and document drafting.
• Facilitating discussions: Generate discussion topics, questions, or prompts to encourage classroom engagement and thoughtful conversation.

How do I access Copilot?

Microsoft Copilot is available at copilot.microsoft.com with a Microsoft account.

However, signing into Copilot with your SF State account unlocks Copilot with commercial data protection, offering enhanced data protection policies compared to the standard, publicly accessible edition.

Understanding Copilot's limitations

• Access to other websites: It may have trouble accessing links to external websites and pages, like news articles or social media posts.
• Real-time information: It may not have the most current, up-to-date information.
• Bias and accuracy: It might show biases and accuracy can vary, so verification is crucial, especially in an academic context.

Limitations of Copilot with commercial data protection

• Chat history: For privacy purposes, Copilot with commercial data protection does not retain previous chats, nor does it make chat history available to other users or the organization.
• 3rd-party plugins: Plugins are not supported to prevent data from being sent to external providers.

Is my data secure with Copilot?

If you're signed in to Copilot with your SF State account, you're using Copilot with commercial data protection, which includes stricter data policies than the free, public version.

For more information on privacy and protections, see Microsoft's official documentation. 

Using Copilot for the first time

1. Sign into Copilot.
2. Type your question or statement into the text box at the bottom of the page and press Enter.
   
3. Copilot's reply will appear beneath your message.
   
4. Continue the dialogue with additional queries.
   
5. Select the New Topic button if you'd like to start over or if you've reached the 30 response limit. Note that Copilot with commercial data protection does not retain chat history, so make sure to save any work before starting a new topic. 

Additional features

Image generation

Copilot can also generate images depending on how your request is phrased. For example, try entering a prompt like: "Generate an image of [your request]." 

Conversation style

Copilot offers a choice between three different conversation styles:

• Creative: Gives responses that are longer, more descriptive, and more conversational in tone.
• Precise: Focuses on shorter, more search-focused answers that are more formal in tone.
• Balanced: Somewhere in-between, providing answers that are neither too short nor too long.

What are the differences between Copilot and ChatGPT?

	Copilot	Copilot with commercial data protection (signed in with SF State account)	ChatGPT (free)	ChatGPT (paid)
Uses GPT-4	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Can generate images	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Has plugins for extended capabilities and features	Yes	No	No	Yes
Keeps chat history	Yes	No	Yes, when signed-in	Yes
Displays ads	Yes	Yes	No	No

 

Next steps

Create content: For practical examples and step-by-step directions, see our guides on using Copilot to create quizzes and lesson plans.

Improve your results: Similar to using search engines like Google, there are specific ways to communicate with generative AI chatbots to improve and refine the results you receive. See our guide Using generative AI chatbots effectively to learn more.

Adopt ethical practices: When using Microsoft Copilot and other generative AI tools, make sure to consider the ethical implications associated with deploying AI technology in academic and professional environments. See our campus's page on Critical & Ethical AI for further reading and resources.