CoPilot Chat

Overview

CoPilot Logo

Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat is an AI chat tool with features similar to ChatGPT and Google's Gemini. It uses the latest AI models and data from the web to answer your questions, generate content and ideas, and find information. It also protects your data so information from your chat conversation does not get exposed to the public. 

CoPilot Chat is the recommended tool that is licensed by KU.

CoPilot Chat includes:

  • A side-by-side experience that's aware of a user's open content in select Microsoft 365 apps like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Outlook
  • IT controls, enterprise data protection, and agent management
  • Ability to upload files to get responses based on information from your school documents, presentations, etc.
  • Abilitiy to refine and collaborate on chat responses
  • Features like Copilot Pages, file upload, and image generation

Getting Started

Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat offers a UI designed for KU students, faculty, and staff to complete tasks while pursing their work and education. You can access Copilot Chat at m365copilot.com, through the Copilot app available for Windows, Mac, through your mobile device's app store, or through various Office 365 Apps such as Teams and Outlook.

Sign in with your KU Account:

  1. Navigate to M365Copilot.com in your preferred browser.
  2. Log in with your KU online ID and password if prompted. 

Access through Teams:

  1. Open the Teams desktop, web, or mobile client.
  2. Select CoPilot from the left or top menu.

Access through Outlook:

  1. Open the Outlook desktop, web, or mobile app.
  2. Select CoPilot from the left or bottom menu.

Notes: 

  • You will know you are successfully signed in to Copilot Chat when you see the green shield icon the top of the page.
  • If you are not signed in with your KU account, Enterprise Data Protection does not apply.
  • If you're logged in other another Microsoft account, just click on profile button at top right and click Sign Out. You will be redirected to KU's Single Sign-on page to login with your KU Online ID credentials.

Enterprise Data Protection

Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat offers enterprise data protection (EDP). After logging in with your KU Online ID credentials, you will see that green shield at the top right of the page - this guarantees you the data protection to be able to work with KU documents safely. Review more details from Microsoft on privacy and protections in Copilot Chat.

Get the most from CoPilot Chat

  • Create prompts with clear goals, context, and references
  • Upload files you want to analyze, summarize, or ask for suggestions on how to rewrite
  • Try suggested prompts located in the center of the page
  • Create images and designs by describing what you want

Features

Copilot Chat is not grounded in organizational content like OneDrive files, KU emails, or Teams chats as part of the AI chat experience—it is grounded in data from the web only. If Copilot Chat users would like to use organizational content in their chat, they can do so in the following ways:

  • As part of a prompt, such as copying and pasting in content, uploading a file, selecting a file by typing '/' and choosing it from the ContextIQ menu, or selecting a suggested prompt which contains a file.
  • By using Copilot Chat in select Microsoft 365 apps like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Outlook. In this scenario, Copilot Chat is aware of any open file content and is able to engage with it instead of requiring the user to upload a file or copy and paste the content into Copilot Chat.
    • CoPilot Chat cannot write directly to files. If a prompt requests editing to a file, a new file will be generated after the anaylsis is completed. 

Limitations

Copilot Chat includes standard access to capabilities like file upload, image generation, and models (like GPT-5). This means it's subject to Microsoft's service capacity availability to ensure the product works well for everyone. Quality and performance may vary depending on service availability. If the service isn't available at a given moment, Copilot notifies the user—it doesn't interrupt a task in progress.

KU Information Technology administrates the Microsoft 365 platform at KU. The other products in the Microsoft portfolio that include AI (Copilot 365, Copilot Studio, etc.) are not currently offered. KU IT is working towards licensing solutions that can provide access in the near future.

Additional Resources

Learn More