What is AI? What is Copilot?
Microsoft Copilot is a generative artificial intelligence chatbot that is available to students, faculty and staff at Minnesota State University, Mankato. Copilot is basted on OpenAI GPT-4 and is evolving quickly while Microsoft is changing its service offering periodically.
Using Copilot
Currently, there are several ways to access, try, and to use Copilot.
1) Free and open Copilot access is available through Microsoft products like Edge, Bing (deep search) and is built into Windows 11. You can click on the Copilot icon
or you can use any browser at https://copilot.microsoft.com and start your message conversation with Copilot.
2) Copilot (using Enterprise Data Protection) - Students, faculty and staff can sign in to https://copilot.microsoft.com using their StarID@go.minnstate.edu or StarID@minnstate.edu account. This will save previous conversations and provide privacy with the university's Microsoft 365 environment.
Any data, files, photos and conversations with Copilot are retained within the University's Microsoft 365 environment rather than the rest of the world. This helps ensure that your data is private and more secure as well as better guards against copywrite concerns.
3) Licensed Copilot (Microsoft 365) - a very limited amount of Copilot trial licenses are available to faculty and staff through IT Solutions to try Copilot and it's integration within Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Office apps such as Outlook, Teams, PowerPoint, and other apps. The licensed version offers more integration and power for creation and streamlining of communication and work.
According to Wikipedia.org, here are some current ways that Copilot can be used:
According to Microsoft, Copilot can assist users with data analysis in Microsoft Excel spreadsheets by formatting data, creating graphs, generating pivot tables, identifying trends, and summarizing information, as well as guiding users using Excel commands and suggesting formulas to investigate user questions. The company also states that Copilot is able to create PowerPoint presentations that summarize information from user-selected Word documents and Excel spreadsheets, or from user prompts. Additionally, this tool can adjust text formatting, animation timing, and presentation style and length based on user prompts; Microsoft claims this will eliminate the need for users to make manual changes.
In Microsoft Outlook, Copilot can draft emails with varying length and tone based on user input. To draft these emails, Copilot can pull relevant information from other emails. Copilot is also able to summarize content from email threads, including the viewpoints of involved individuals as well as questions posed that have yet to be answered. According to Microsoft, Copilot can be used in Microsoft Teams to present information for upcoming meetings, transcribe meetings, and provide debriefs if a user joins a meeting late. After a meeting, the company claims that Copilot can also summarize discussion points, list key actions deliberated in the meeting, and answer questions that were covered in the meeting. The company has publicly introduced Microsoft 365 Chat, a Copilot feature which pulls information from content across Microsoft 365 apps, enabling it to answer user questions and perform other tasks.
Departments can also request to purchase a Copilot license to use. This can be done by submitting a request to itssolutionscenter@mnsu.edu along with a cost center to charge the license to. The cost is $360.00 per year, although the subscription period renews on August 1st of each year so the first year is prorated. The employee or department can cancel the Copilot subscription license prior to the August 1st renewal if desired. Due to the high cost, Copilot licenses are not provided to all employees.
NOTE: Copilot requires Microsoft Office 365 (ProPlus or Office 2024 for Windows and macOS). If your computer has an older version of Microsoft Office, please contact the IT Solutions Center for a free upgrade.
4) Copilot Studio - A tool for creating custom Copilot automation with Power Automate for your specific audiences, business processes and workflows.
What are the requirements for Copilot?
See this knowledge article https://services.mnsu.edu/TDClient/30/Portal/KB/ArticleDet?ID=1157
What Training is Available for Copilot?
Copilot AI training is available for FREE through Microsoft:
- Microsoft AI Sills Challenge https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-copilot-studio/guidance/
- Linkedin Learning https://www.mnsu.edu/it-solutions/help-support/linkedinlearning_training/
- Streamlining Your Work with Microsoft Copilot
- Get Started with Microsoft Copilot
- Setting up Copilot
- Meet Copilot
- Microsoft Copilot: The Art of Prompt Writing
- Basic features of Copilot
- What is Copilot? Get Started with Microsoft's Everyday AI Companion
- Learning Microsoft 365 Copilot
- Copilot in Outlook: Maximize Your Workday Efficiency
NOTE: New Linkedin Learning training courses are available each month.
LInkedin Learning is free to students, faculty and staff at Minnesota State University, Mankato
Sign in with your StarID@go.minnstate.edu for full access to ALL free training courses.