Microsoft Copilot is a chat-based generative AI assistant built on Open AI's popular Chat GPT model. Bryn Mawr College students, faculty and staff have access to Microsoft Copilot through the College's Microsoft 365 license. It is a good general-purpose generative AI tool, and provides better data protections than similar free generative tools when used with a college account.
Before you start, you will need access to the following:
Access Copilot
Copilot is available as a standalone app within Microsoft 365:
- Log into webmail.brynmawr.edu.
- Click (App launcher).
- Click Microsoft 365 Copilot (click More apps if not visible).
You may also see Copilot buttons in the desktop and/or web versions of some Microsoft 365 apps such as Teams or Outlook; click to start a Copilot chat session from within those apps.
Use Copilot
To use Copilot, type your instructions or questions into the chat box. Copilot will "reply" with results, and you can refine those results by typing additional instructions or questions. See Microsoft's demo video for examples in action.
Some things to keep in mind:
- If you do not specify a source or target, Copilot will formulate a response using information that is publicly available on the Internet, citing sources that you can use to verify its conclusions and learn more.
- To narrow Copilot's analysis to a specific website, include it in in your prompt. For example, if you typed "Look on brynmawr.edu to find the number of full-time students attending Bryn Mawr College," Copilot would search only webpages on that domain.
- You can also ask Copilot to analyze or edit files that you provide:
- Type your instructions in the prompt box; for example, "Remove all the empty rows from this Excel Document."
- Click Add content and agents
- Click Upload from this device or Attach Cloud Files, then find and select your file(s). Copilot can analyze files in Microsoft formats (.docx, .xlsx, .pptx) and open-source formats (.txt, .csv., .md).
- Click Enter.
- Provide details about your goals and context for better results. See Microsoft's Learn about Copilot prompts.
- To export a response to another application, click (Copy response) and then paste it in that application.
Note: Microsoft is actively experimenting with Copilot business models. Not all options are currently available through our license, and features are subject to change.
Data Security
Before using Copilot chat, it's important to make sure you understand how it handles data.
- Files, data and content that you input or that Copilot generates remain siloed within your account in our Microsoft tenant. They are not used to train Microsoft Copilot itself or as data analyzed for queries by other people (at Bryn Mawr or elsewhere).
- Anything you can store on OneDrive can go into Copilot Chat. Do not use Copilot Chat (or any other AI tool) with Level 1 data; remove it and/or de-identify data before uploading it. Review the College's Data Handling Policy if you're not sure what data qualifies as Level 1.
- Microsoft claims that it has built guardrails against copyright infringement into Copilot Chat and promises to indemnify users sued for copyright infringement. In other words, Microsoft promises it would defend the College, under certain conditions, if it were sued by a content creator for creating something through Copilot that resembled the creator's work. Nevertheless, we do not want to be in the position of having to rely on this policy, so please be mindful of how you use content generated by Copilot.
Questions?
If you have any additional questions or problems, don't hesitate to reach out to the Help Desk!
Phone: 610-526-7440 | Library and Help Desk hours
Email: help@brynmawr.edu | Service catalog
Location: Canaday Library 1st floor
