What is Microsoft Copilot Chat?
Microsoft Copilot Chat is an institutional generative AI tool for College users via Lafayette accounts. It processes questions conversationally using a large language model. Unlike the consumer version, it offers enhanced data protection: chats aren’t saved, and input data isn’t used for training. Look for the “Enterprise data protection applies to this chat” message for confirmation.
How to Access Copilot Chat
- Go to office.microsoft.com in your web browser.
- Select the [Sign In] icon in the upper right corner.
- Enter your Lafayette email address and select [Next].
- Sign in with your Lafayette credentials (this is important to ensure data privacy and security).
Interacting with Copilot Chat
The core of Microsoft Copilot Chat is the chat interface. You communicate with the AI by entering prompts in the text box in the middle of the screen.
- Summarize: Upload a document, such as a PDF or Word file, and ask Copilot Chat to summarize key points, identify main arguments, or extract important information.
- Research & Brainstorming: Use it as a starting point for research by asking it to provide an overview of a topic, suggest related concepts, or help you brainstorm ideas for a paper.
- Writing & Editing: Get help with writing, such as drafting an outline for an essay, refining your writing style, or checking grammar. Be cautious and always review the output for accuracy and tone.
- Study Assistance: Ask for help understanding a complex topic. You can even create flashcards or quizzes from your notes. For example, you could prompt it to “Create a 10-question quiz about the major themes in ‘Hamlet’ and highlight key literary devices.”
- Coding & Data Analysis: For programming or data-heavy courses, Copilot Chat can assist with writing and explaining code, and help you analyze data or create visualizations.
More features and functions: Learn more about Copilot Chat!
Best Practices for Prompting AI
The effectiveness of AI tools is directly tied to the quality of your prompts. Be aware that AI can “hallucinate,” generating plausible-sounding but factually incorrect, fabricated, or non-existent information. Always fact-check AI responses and their sources. For more details, consult our Best Practices for Prompting AI help document.