Microsoft Copilot

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At SUNY Geneseo, we use Copilot (formerly Bing Chat Enterprise) as our approved AI chat solution. 

  • With the power of GPT-4, an advanced AI mode. Copilot enables you to:

  • Quickly summarized long PDFs and articles

    • Effortlessly craft professional and customer-ready content

    • Create stunning images for social media, articles, emails, and more

  • Using non-approved AI web services can expose our University's data to the public.

  • Use Copilot for AI chat to help keep our data safe with built-in commercial data protection from Microsoft.

Copilot - a new way to search

Get answers, not links. We're used to searching the internet with keywords and getting pages of links.

Now, we can chat in conversational language to get detailed, customized answers from the internet.

We can ask for summaries, analysis, tables, content, and images.

AI chat enables us to uncover insights that link various data points, providing fresh perspectives that may not have been documented previously. This capability distinguishes AI chat as "generative AI"—it generates responses rather than merely directing users to existing links.

Chat is the new way to "internet". Simply put, AI-powered chat gives you custom answers

Get Started with Copilot

Copilot can be accessed in five places: Copilot.Microsoft.com, Microsoft Edge sidebar, Microsoft app on mobile, and Windows.

Signing in

  • Navigate to Copilot on your preferred browser on your device. Copilot is compatible with Microsoft Edge and Chrome on desktop PCs.

  • Ensure you're signed in with your Geneseo account

    • You will know you are successfully signed in with your Geneseo account when you see a green "Protected" tag next to your credentials in the top right corner of your screen.  

      • image of being signed into copilot and see the green shield with white checkmark

    • If you are not signed in with your Geneseo account, your data is not protected while using AI chat.

Copilot Components

  • Start a new chat button - This purple button in the upper right will clear your past chat and start a new conversation.

  • Protected badge - This green badge in the upper right let’s you know you’re signed in with your Geneseo account and confirms that you’re protected. If the green tag is missing, sign in with your Geneseo account.

  • Suggested prompts - Copilot lists suggested prompts under the chat box. If you’re not sure what to ask, try or modify a sample prompt!

  • Chat box - “Message Copilot”, enter your prompt here and hit enter to get a response from Copilot. You can also add attachments by clicking the + or use dictation by selecting the microphone.

Prompts

Prompts and how to use them effectively

A prompt is an instruction or input you give to an AI or language model to generate a desired response. It can be a question, a command, or a detailed description. The quality of your prompt directly affects the quality of the output.

Why Prompts Matter

  • Clarity: A clear prompt reduces ambiguity and ensures accurate responses.

  • Context: Providing background information helps the AI understand your intent.

  • Specificity: The more specific you are, the better the result.

Common Prompt Structures

  • Instructional: “Explain how to…”

  • Creative: “Write a short story about…”

  • Analytical: “Compare X and Y in terms of…”

  • Conversational: “What are the pros and cons of…?”

A side-by-side comparison chart titled "Effective Prompts" (in a green box) and "Less Effective Prompts" (in a red box), detailing bullet points and examples for how to write good AI prompts.

There are no 'wrong' prompts, as natural and conversational language is encouraged. Feel free to experiment!

How to Chat

  1. In Copilot Chat, write a prompt in the Message Copilot compose box.

    1. A bulleted list of user instructions for Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat, detailing how to add content, use AI tools, select sources, reference specific files with a forward slash, dictate prompts, and use the Prompt Gallery.​​​​​​​

  2. When you're satisfied with your prompt, select the arrow icon to send your message. Copilot Chat begins generating a response to your prompt.

Note: Your answers may vary from session to session.

Tips and Tricks

Frequently Asked Questions

 

Still Need Help?

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Details

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Article ID: 1658
Created
Wed 6/3/26 2:46 PM
Modified
Thu 7/9/26 11:20 AM