Information Security and IT Compliance News

MS Copilot Security

Feb 14, 2024

Microsoft Copilot is an AI tool that can help you save time and improve productivity and is now approved for use through our university licensing. Copilot combines the generative AI capabilities of Bing Chat with commercial data protection. This means user and business data is protected and will not leak outside of our organization, prompts and responses are not saved, no one at Microsoft can view chats, and data is not used to train the underlying large language model (LLM).

Microsoft ensures data protection is a top priority; however, the tool is only approved for use with public and confidential data as defined in the university's data classification system.

Important: Under no circumstances should you input highly confidential data such as HIPAA data and some types of FERPA data into the program.

Visit the ISIC website for more information on how to use Copilot securely. Currently, MS Copilot is the only university approved AI chat service. Additional information regarding the use and security of other AI chat services is forthcoming. We will keep you informed of any updates in our next newsletter.

Here are some tips for using Copilot successfully:

Give context.
- Provide context and relevant details so that you can get the desired outcome. This will help the AI produce results in line with what you are seeking. Examples of providing context can be “write this as a formal email” or “give me a brief explanation for a memo.” Relevant details also include information such as “this is for the marketing section of a presentation for x client.” The more details you can provide for your search, the better. Key words aren’t enough to generate meaningful results.
Provide parameters.
- Setting parameters will help narrow down the results to one that is useful to you. Parameters might include “give me the top 5 bullet points only” or date ranges of data to pull. If you want data from only a specific study, specify that as a parameter.
Consider your audience.
- Who are you targeting? Your audience, or the group of people who will be reading the results, needs to factor into how you enter your search. Provide as many details pertaining to your audience as possible to generate a useful result. Relevant audience information might include information such as “this is for a beginner” or “this is for x age group.”
Iterate and reiterate.
- Copilot isn’t like a search engine, it’s more like a conversation. You will go back and forth with it and enter in more details or ask it to remove some from the results. This iteration and reiteration will help you narrow down the answers to get the results you’re seeking.