About Microsoft Copilot at IU

On this page:

Overview
Copilot compatibility
- Microsoft Edge
- Chrome, Firefox, macOS, Safari, Android, and iOS
Precautions about using Copilot at IU
Incidental personal use
Learn more

Overview

Microsoft Copilot is available for use by Indiana University faculty and staff. It is built on the same AI models and data as ChatGPT-4, so you can use it to write and summarize content, create code, and answer complex questions. Copilot also has access to current internet data, enabling it to provide real-time responses to current events (a feature not available in ChatGPT, which is based on data up to 2021).

To use Copilot, log in using your @iu.edu email address and your IU passphrase.

Copilot compatibility

Important:

Copilot browser integration is only officially supported in Microsoft Edge. You can, however, use the browser-based version on any supported web browser.

Microsoft Edge

Browser-based access: https://copilot.microsoft.com/ or via the Microsoft Edge sidebar
Topics: Limited to 30 replies

Note:

You may need to set Microsoft Edge as your default browser to experience the full features of topic responses.

Chrome, Firefox, macOS, Safari, Android, and iOS

Browser-based access: https://copilot.microsoft.com/
Topics: Limited to 30 replies
Apps: Third-party applications are available via the Chrome web store, Google Play, and the Apple apps store. They are not recommended for use with Copilot at IU.

Note:

If you reach your 30-reply limit, you can select New topic or refresh the page to restart the response counter.

Precautions about using Copilot at IU

At IU, Microsoft Copilot is approved to interact with data classified up to and including University-Internal data if you are logged in with your Microsoft 365 at IU account. Because of the protections in place, Copilot is the recommended way to use generative AI within the IU environment.

Make sure you are logged in with your IU account (your @iu.edu email address and IU passphrase) to access Copilot and not the consumer-based Copilot service.

Important:

Always use your IU account for Indiana University business. Personal (free) non-IU Microsoft accounts are not approved for institutional data. When working in Microsoft 365 apps, check the top right to see which account you're signed in with; in Microsoft Edge, check the top left.

Incidental personal use

Microsoft Copilot does not save any chat history, and it does not retain chat prompts or responses. Microsoft has no eyes-on access to it to train the underlying models. Copilot also doesn't have access to organizational resources or content within Microsoft 365, such as Word documents or PowerPoint presentations. Only content provided in the chat by users is accessible to Copilot.

Note:

Microsoft Copilot has important privacy and protection information. For details, see Privacy and Protections.

Even if you use generative AI tools for activities that do not share personal or institutional data, you should still check the tool's output for accuracy. Since these tools have been known to produce inaccurate content (sometimes called "hallucinations"), verify any factual information generated by an AI tool, and make sure to reference the tool as you would any other source.

If you have any concerns about privacy related to Copilot, or if you have questions about the type of data that can be shared with Copilot, email privacy@iu.edu.

Learn more

For more, see: