Microsoft Copilot

What is Copilot (formerly Bing Chat)?

Microsoft Copilot is an AI-powered chat utility for the web, and is MSU Denver's approved AI chat solution. It generates custom answers using current web data while allowing users to ask follow up questions to get the answer they need. Whether researching industry insights, analyzing data, or looking for inspiration, Copilot gives users access to better answers, greater efficiency, and new ways to be creative.

To help business and educational organizations protect corporate data, Copilot adds commercial data protection when eligible users sign in with their work accounts. Commercial data protection means user and organizational data are protected, prompts and responses are not saved, Microsoft has no eyes-on access, and chat data isn't used to train the underlying large language models. Using Copilot prevents leaking confidential organizational information, where using AI tools on the web may expose private data to the public.

Copilot Web Chat Utility vs. Copilot for Microsoft 365

• The Copilot AI-powered chat utility for the web (formerly Bing Chat) is the service available in our environment. This functions similarly to ChatGPT in that you sign into the service via your browser and ask questions in that browser window (see section: How do I access Copilot?)
   
• Copilot for Microsoft 365 is a slightly different product offering that integrates tightly into Office/Office 365 products. Copilot for Microsoft 365 is not available in our environment as we evaluate costs and and prerequisites to making the service available. We expect more updates on this tool by mid- to late-2024. 

Who can use Copilot?

The unsecured version of Copilot is freely available to anyone with a Microsoft account.

Copilot with commercial data protection is available to all MSU Denver faculty and staff.

How do I request access to Copilot?

MSU Denver faculty, staff and students automatically have access to Copilot with commercial data protection through their MSU Denver Office 365 account.

How do I access Copilot?

To access Copilot with commercial data protection, navigate to https://copilot.microsoft.com/ and log in with your MSU Denver NetID and password.

You can verify you are using the secured version of Copilot by checking directly above the text interface, or the icon in the upper-right corner.

Note: Copilot is only officially supported in the Microsoft Edge or Chrome web browsers, on Windows and Mac OS.

Additional Resources

• Check Microsoft's official Coplilot FAQ for their own details about the platform.
• Read our knowledgebase article about MSU Denver's stance on Generative AI technologies.
• Find more information about this and other emerging technologies on the IT Services Innovation page.
• Do you have further questions for IT Services about Copilot? Submit us your questions in a ticket so we can connect with you!
• Do you have questions about other AI-powered tools? You can also submit a general AI question or request!