Microsoft Copilot is an AI-powered assistant designed to enhance workplace productivity. It supports tasks such as drafting reports, creating presentations, and facilitating idea development. Copilot leverages Artificial Intelligence (AI) and publicly available web data to answer questions, summarize content, analyze information, generate text or visuals, and create social media posts. Its goal is to simplify tasks and improve work efficiency.
For a comprehensive overview of Copilot's features for faculty and staff, consult its frequently asked questions (microsoft.com).
Faculty, staff, and students can access Copilot using their Microsoft accounts from Ithaca College.
Getting Started with Copilot
Website
- Open the Microsoft Edge browser.
- Navigate to https://copilot.cloud.microsoft.com
- Sign in with your Ithaca College credentials if prompted.
- Use Copilot by selecting a built-in prompt or entering a query into the "Ask me anything" textbox. Copilot will respond with an AI-generated answer.
- To begin a new chat session, click the New Chat button.
Edge Sidebar
- Open the Microsoft Edge browser.
- Click the Copilot logo in the Edge sidebar to open Copilot.
- Sign in with your Ithaca College credentials if prompted.
- Use Copilot by selecting a built-in prompt or entering a query into the "Ask me anything" textbox. Copilot will respond with an AI-generated answer.
- To begin a new chat session, click the New Chat button.
To enable access to web content, go to Copilot's settings in Microsoft Edge and check "Allow Copilot to use page content."
If the Copilot icon is not visible in the Edge sidebar, visit Sidebar settings in Microsoft Edge and ensure "Always on" or "Auto hidden" is selected.
Data and Privacy
As long as you are signed into your College account, Copilot does not use your data to train foundation models, and enterprise data protection applies. With enterprise data protection, prompts and responses in Microsoft Copilot are now saved for future consideration. For detailed information about data protection, refer to Copilot's Privacy and Protections (microsoft.com) and Data Protection Considerations when using Generative AI Tools.
To confirm you are using Copilot with data protection, go to https://copilot.cloud.microsoft.com and locate the green "protected" icon at the top right of the window, as seen below.
Caution: Other AI models may retain any data entered into them. To safeguard the privacy of the College community, please refrain from entering the following into any AI tool other than Copilot (e.g., ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, etc.).
- Personal Identifiable Information (PII): Full names, addresses, social security numbers
- Financial details: Bank accounts, credit card numbers, transaction data
- Health records: Personal medical information
- Login credentials: Usernames, passwords
- Confidential academic work: Unpublished research, patents
- Student academic information: Grades, evaluations, or any other records that could impact student privacy and academic integrity
Further Reading