This article only discusses AI in the context of Microsoft Copilot and not other AI services such as Microsoft 365 Copilot.
What's included in this article?
What is Microsoft Copilot with Data Protection?
Microsoft Copilot is an AI companion that can help you find answers, create content, provide summaries on a variety of topics, and more.
In 2023, a public version of Copilot was introduced in Microsoft's Bing search engine to help empower every individual in the world a conversational AI assistant. As a staff, faculty or student at SFU, you have access to an enterprise version of Microsoft Copilot that includes additional data protection as an alternative to public AI companions (such as the public version of Copilot, ChatGPT, Bard...etc).
With Copilot for enterprise:
- Your chat data is encrypted during your conversations and isn't viewable by Microsoft or anyone else.
- Copilot will not retain any data about your conversation at the end of your session.
- Your chat data isn't used to train the underlying AI companion as it would be with public AI companions.
- Your SFU user profile is used to sign-in but will be anonymous during your session.
For more information about the privacy and protections available to the enterprise version of Microsoft Copilot see: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/copilot/privacy-and-protections
How do I access Microsoft Copilot?
You can access Microsoft Copilot with data protection by signing in to your SFU work/school account at copilot.microsoft.com.
After signing in to Copilot with your SFU work/school account, you'll see a confirmation that your chat conversations are protected by SFU's compliance standards via a shield icon at the top right. This ensures your conversations remain protected and are not shared outside the boundary of SFU.
Hovering over the shield icon will also provide a link to more information alongside a discretionary advisory. The advisory is a notice that your conversations may be retained by the university to meet SFU's compliance obligations, and to consider this when sharing non-work/school related personal information or organizational data during your interactions with the AI companion.
How do I get started using Copilot?
Generative AI is not human but is very human-like. To get started simply sign in to Copilot with your SFU work/school account and ask it any question you would normally have during a conversation. To get the most out of your conversations see the tips below, or check out Microsoft's extensive article on "The art of the prompt: How to get the best out of generative ai".
What should I know while using Copilot?
Generative AI is designed to be conversational but can make mistakes and provide convincing false answers (known as hallucinations). As you use and interact with an AI assistant you should always verify statements or responses that are provided.
To help guide your use of Copilot, the SFU Privacy Office has provided the following statement.
Advisory Notice from the SFU Privacy Office
In using this service you agree to refrain from uploading, submitting, or providing access to, documents containing personal or confidential information to the Bing AI platform that may contain:
- Personal Information: Such as names, addresses, phone numbers, personal email addresses, social security numbers, etc.
- Confidential or Sensitive Content: Including proprietary business information, financial details, legal documents, or any other information intended to be kept private.
Should you have any inquiries or concerns regarding the appropriate use of the Copilot platform at SFU, please contact SFU IT services.