What is Copilot?

• Copilot is a powerful AI assistant that can generate text, suggest ideas, correct errors, and answer questions in most Microsoft products.
• Copilot can help you with tasks like summarizing a discussion in a Teams meeting, generating a document in Word or email in Outlook, creating presentations in PowerPoint and formulas in Excel, finding and analyzing information, and more.

What can you use Copilot for?

• help you with a variety of writing tasks, such as emails, reports, proposals, etc.
• also help you with creative writing, such as stories, poems, scripts, etc.
• assist you with data analysis, such as charts, tables, graphs, etc.
• support you with research, such as finding sources, citations, facts, etc.
• summarize key points or search for important information in communications

How to access Copilot

Many Microsoft apps have multiple ways to interact with Copilot. These are just a few of the most common:

• Teams:
  • In the Chat tab, click Copilot above your pinned threads to chat with the AI
  • Inside a meeting, click Copilot in the top toolbar to have it take meeting notes, transcribe the meeting, and more.
• Office apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint):
  • Click Copilot in the top toolbar to help you write a document, create a presentation, add formulas or analyze tables, and more
• Outlook:
  • Click Copilot in the left-side toolbar to summarize emails from your manager in the last 48 hours
  • Click Summary by Copilot at the top of any email to summarize it for you
  • Start a new email and click Draft with Copilot to have the AI get you started

Basic prompt examples

• Write a summary of this document.
• Write an introduction or conclusion for this topic.
• Write a catchy headline for this article.
• Write a bullet point list of the main points.
• Write a question that tests the understanding of this concept.
• Write a feedback comment for this work.
• Write a follow-up email for this meeting.

To find more prompts, click View prompts at the bottom of most Copilot conversations.

For even more prompt ideas: Microsoft Copilot Prompt Examples

Available training

If you want to learn more about how to use Copilot effectively, you can access the following training resources from Microsoft:

• Microsoft’s Introduction to Copilot: A 29-minute “Microsoft Learn” training course on the basics of using Copilot
• Copilot Lab: A great starting point for learning what Copilot can do in each specific Microsoft product
• Copilot FAQ: Frequently asked questions about Copilot
• Copilot for M365 Videos: YouTube playlist that includes 10-20 minute videos specifically for Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint

Link to our AI policy

As a user of Copilot, you are expected to follow our AI policy, which outlines the ethical and responsible use of AI in our organization. You can access the AI policy here: Generative A.I. Policy (supportuw.org)

Special considerations

When using Copilot, you should be aware of some special considerations regarding security, sensitive information, retention policy, saving out to another source, etc. Some of these considerations include:

• Be aware of the audience when using Copilot in meetings. Do not use Copilot in Teams when meeting with constituents or campus partners, especially if the topic has legal significance or sensitivity. When using Copilot in Teams, always assume public records are being created.
• Always request approval from an external audience before turning Copilot on in a meeting.
• Copilot-generated meeting output from Teams will be purged after 30 days. It is the responsibility of the meeting organizer or designee to output to a separate storage location (e.g. Box, OneNote, etc.)
• Copilot is not a substitute for human judgment or expertise. You should always review and verify the text generated by Copilot before using it.
• As Copilot will remind you, “AI-generated content may be incorrect.”
• Always confirm any sources generated by Copilot. All current AI assistants (Copilot, ChatGPT, Gemini, etc.) are known to frequently reference sources that sound correct but are completely made up and do not actually exist.