3. Microsoft Copilot is an AI-powered tool that acts as a digital assistant. It uses OpenAI’s GPT-4 model and provides a conversational chat interface that lets you search for specific information, generate text, and create images based on text prompts. Copilot can significantly improve productivity, save time, and support continuous learning at work.

Copilot uses large language models (LLMs) to interact with data and generate content and responses. It uses prompts to provide relevant and informed answers based on your permissions and context.

Benefits include:
• Faster Drafting: Helps users get to a good first draft faster.
• Targeted Searches: Provides faster, targeted, and refined searches for finding relevant information.
• Adaptive Learning: The more you use it, the better it gets at predicting and executing the perfect workflow for your needs.

4. Go to https://copilot.microsoft.com/ and sign in with your SUNY work email.

The first Key Interface element is the:
1. Input Field: Where you type your questions or instructions. It understands natural language, so you can ask questions, give commands or talk to it just like you would to a human assistant.
• Suggested Prompts: Little boxes that appear on the Copilot page before you initiate a chat. These prompts help guide users on what they can ask or do with Copilot, making it easier to get started.
• Text Uploads: Answer questions, summarize, translate, check grammar or spelling, and provide explanations.
• Images Generation: ask it to Create an image of for you.
• File Uploads: You can attach files to Copilot for various tasks. Supported formats include DOCX, MD, PDF, and TXT. Each file can be up to 10 MB for licensed users, with a total daily upload limit of 2 GB. Copilot can summarize, explain, expand, translate, and fact-check the content of the attached files. Image files such as jpg, png, etc. are not currently supported. Direct image description is not supported in any file format.
• Character Limits: There are character limits for the input field depending on the mode you are using. For example, Creative and Precise modes allow up to 16,000 characters, while Balanced mode allows up to 4,000 characters.
• Response Limit Indicator: This indicator shows how many responses you have used out of the total allowed in the current chat session. For example, "19 of 30 responses" means you have used 19 responses out of a maximum of 30. Once you reach the limit, you will need to start a new chat session to continue the conversation.
• Submitting a Question: When you want to submit a question or command to Copilot, you can either press the "Enter" key on your keyboard or click on the "Send" icon. The Send icon is typically represented by a paper airplane symbol located at the right end of the input field. This allows you to easily send your query to Copilot for processing.
• Stopping a Response: If you need to stop Copilot from generating a response, you can do so by clicking the "Stop" button that appears while Copilot is processing your request. This can be useful if you realize you need to change your query or if the response is taking too long.

File Attachments: You can attach files to Copilot for various tasks. Here are the details:
• Supported Formats: DOCX, MD (markdown – text file lightweight markup language.), PDF, TXT.
• Size Limitations: Each file can be up to 10 MB for licensed users, with a total daily upload limit of 2 GB.
• Capabilities with Attachments:
• Summarize: Copilot can summarize the content of the attached files.
• Explain: Provide explanations or detailed information based on the file content.
• Expand: Expand on the ideas or content within the file.
• Translate: Translate the content of the file into another language.
• Fact-Check: Use Bing search to fact-check the content of the document.

5, the next key interface element is the Output Field: Where Copilot’s responses appear. Responses can include text, code, or other forms of content depending on your query. Once you have received a response there are a number of things you can do.
• Copy Button: The copy button allows you to easily copy the text of Copilot's response to your clipboard. This can be useful for pasting the response into another document or application.
• Response Limit Indicator: This indicator shows how many responses you have used out of the total allowed in the current chat session. For example, "19 of 30 responses" means you have used 19 responses out of a maximum of 30. Once you reach the limit, you will need to start a new chat session to continue the conversation.
• Thumbs Up and Thumbs Down Buttons: These buttons allow you to provide feedback on Copilot's responses. Clicking the thumbs up indicates you are satisfied with the response, while clicking the thumbs down indicates you are not. After clicking either button, a feedback pane may appear, allowing you to provide more detailed feedback.

• Improve your prompt: You can improve the output by improving/refining your query and asking another question.
• Suggested Prompts & View Prompts: A feature that suggests additional prompts based on the output. And a feature that allows you to see a gallery of suggested prompts. This can help you discover, save, and share prompts available from Microsoft 365 Copilot apps and agents.

• Copilot Prompt Gallery: The Copilot Prompt Gallery is a comprehensive repository that allows users to discover, save, and share prompts. It helps users understand and use Microsoft Copilot more effectively by providing access to a catalog of prompts created by Microsoft and other users.

Here’s how to use it:
• Discover Prompts: Browse through a curated selection of suggested prompts organized by role, function, or industry. This helps you find prompts that are relevant to your specific needs.
• Save Prompts: Save your favorite prompts to the gallery for easy access later. This is useful for prompts you find particularly effective or frequently use.
• Share Prompts: Share prompts with colleagues via copy link, email, or Microsoft Teams. This facilitates collaboration and knowledge sharing within your organization.
• Explore Popular Prompts: Stay up to date on the most popular prompts within your organization. You can "like" prompts to influence prompt leaderboards and discover valuable prompts tailored to your work.

• Copilot Pages: Copilot Pages is a dynamic, persistent canvas designed for multiplayer AI collaboration. With Pages, you can turn insightful Copilot responses into something durable with a side-by-side page that you can edit and, when ready, share with your team to collaborate. This feature allows you to:
• Create and Edit Pages: Click 'Edit in Pages' to create a page and open it side-by-side with the chat. You can continue your conversation in chat, and subsequent responses will be added to the page.
• Share and Collaborate: Share your page with others who can collaborate on it with you. People you share with will have access to the page and its content, not your Copilot session.
• Access Pages: Return to your page at any time by clicking the link in the chat where you first created the page or by opening the Pages tab in Microsoft365.com, where you will see all the Pages that you previously created.

• When to Start a New Chat: It’s advisable to start a new chat when you want to begin a fresh topic or task without continuing from a previous conversation. This helps keep your interactions organized and ensures that Copilot can provide the most relevant and focused assistance. You can start a new chat by clicking the "New Chat" button located at the top right of the interface.

6. Chat History Management
Chat History Tracking: Copilot tracks your chat history, which appears in the left column under "Chats." This allows you to revisit previous conversations.
• Retention: Chat history is stored for up to 30 days.
• Limitations: There is a limit to how many chats can be stored, typically up to 100 chats. Older chats may be deleted as new ones are added.
• Deletion: If you delete a chat, it is permanently removed and cannot be recovered.
• Viewing Hidden Chats: Currently, there is no feature to view chats that are not visible in the list. Only the most recent chats are displayed.
• Reveal/Close Chats Panel: You can reveal or close the chats panel by clicking the "Chats" button on the left side of the interface. This allows you to manage your workspace and focus on the current conversation.

Explore Modes
• The interface is designed for interactive conversation. You can ask questions, request assistance with tasks, or engage in a dialogue on various topics. Our version does not appear to have the mode selector , but Copilot automatically adjusting its responses based on the context of your queries. You can still get creative, precise, or balanced responses by tailoring your prompts accordingly. For example:
• For creative responses, you can use prompts like "Write a short story about..."
• For precise responses, you can use prompts like "Summarize the key points of..."
• For balanced responses, you can use prompts that combine both elements, like "Explain the concept of..."

Character Limits
Character Limits: Copilot has different character limits on input and outputs depending on the mode:
• Creative Mode: Up to 8,000 characters.
• Precise Mode: Up to 8,000 characters.
• Balanced Mode: Up to 4,000 characters.
• Copilot Pro Subscription: Up to 16,000 characters in Creative and Precise modes.
There is a character limit indicator in the input field for Copilot. This indicator helps you keep track of how many characters you've used and how many you have left. When you reach the character limit, the input field will typically prevent you from adding more text. This ensures that you stay within the allowed limits and avoid any issues with truncated or ignored input.

If you exceed output limits in Copilot, the response will be truncated, meaning it will be cut off at the character limit. This can result in incomplete answers or missing information.
To avoid issues resulting from exceeding character limits for both input and output:
1. Break down your queries into smaller parts.
2. Prioritize key information to ensure the most important details are included.
3. Use follow-up questions to get additional information if needed.

7. Copilot can generate a wide variety of content, including but not limited to:
Informative Content: information on a wide range of topics, from historical events to scientific concepts.
• Prompt: Describe our solar system.

Instructional Content: Copilot can provide step-by-step instructions or guides, such as recipes, DIY projects, or even programming tutorials.
• Prompt: Provide a recipe for a chocolate cake.

Creative Content: Copilot can generate imaginative content such as stories, poems, and song lyrics.
• Prompt: Generate a short poem about the state university of new york.

8. Analytical Content: Copilot can Analyze data, interpret results, and provide insights.
• Prompt: Analyze current 23/24 data and provide insights regarding online education in the US.


Conversational Content: Copilot can engage in interactive dialogues, answers questions, and provide explanations.
• Prompt: What is the weather like today in Scotia, NY?

Code Generation: Copilot can generate/check code snippets in various programming languages.
• Prompt: Generate a Python function to calculate the factorial of a number.
• Prompt: Generate HTML code for an accordion with 5 sections.

9. Summaries: Copilot can summarize long pieces of text, articles, or documents.
• Prompt: Summarize this article: https://onedtech.philhillaa.com/p/state-of-lms-market-us-canada-year-end-20...

Language Translation: Translates text from one language to another.
• Prompt: Translate this text:
• The COIL+ OSCQR Rubric offers a comprehensive method in designing quality COIL Virtual Exchange(VE) modules of any interdisciplinary course or content. In taking from OSCQR Rubric for Online course standards and review, the COIL+OSCQR supports the standards in teaching and implementing a COIL Virtual Exchange module of any course discipline or content.10. Copilot as a Learning Tool

10. copilot can help explain something new, tell you steps in a process, or explain things.

Ask it questions. Ask it anything. Refine your prompts.

• Prompt: Can you provide instructions on how to add the pagination feature in the visual table of contents in Brightspace on a course homepage?

• Prompt: What is the difference between sine and cosine? Is there a good Kahn academy video to explain this?

11. To get the most out of Copilot, here are some general tips:
• Provide Context: The more contextually rich your input or prompt is, the better the prediction or output will be.
• Use Relevant Information/Data: Provide Copilot with information and context.
• Prompt Engineering: Be specific, provide or ask for examples, be conversational, experiment with prompts, and refine your prompt to improve the response.
• Trust but Verify: Verify the output to ensure it meets your requirements.
• Explore Features: Copilot is developing rapidly, and new features are being added all the time.

• Prompt Engineering: Generative AI technology evolving and still at its beginning stages.
Example Prompts for Training a Dog to Sit:
• Poor Prompt: How to train a dog?
• Explanation: Too vague and broad.
• Better Prompt: How to train a dog to sit?
• Explanation: More specific but could be refined further.
• Best Prompt: Can you provide step-by-step instructions on how to train a dog to sit using positive reinforcement techniques?
• Explanation: Very specific and clear, leading to a more useful response.

Limitations and Considerations
Language Support: Copilot primarily supports English. Inaccurate responses might be returned when users converse with the system in languages other than English.
Integration and Compatibility: While Microsoft 365 Copilot is designed to integrate seamlessly with Microsoft 365 applications, there can be limitations or issues with compatibility in certain environments, especially with third-party (non-Microsoft) apps and customized or non-standard configurations.

Document Size: There is a limit on the prompt itself, which can be up to 2,000 characters. Copilot may focus on the beginning of the document for summaries and might not analyze the entire file if it's very large.

Quotas and Limits: There are quotas on how often messages can be sent to Copilot agents, typically defined as requests per minute (RPM). For example, the default quota is 8,000 RPM per Dataverse environment.
Image Generation Limits:
• Free Version: There isn't a specific official limit mentioned, but there are general usage limitations that might affect the number of image requests you can make.
• Copilot Pro Subscription: You can generate up to 100 images per day
These limits help manage server load and ensure fair usage for all users. If you reach the limit, you might need to wait until the next day to generate more images

12.
Things You Shouldn't Ask Copilot:
1. Personal or Sensitive Information: Avoid asking for personal data, financial details, or any sensitive information. Copilot is designed to respect user privacy and cannot access or process personal data.
2. Medical, Legal, or Financial Advice: Copilot is not a substitute for professional advice. For medical, legal, or financial matters, always consult a qualified professional.
3. Harmful or Inappropriate Content: Do not ask Copilot to generate or engage in content that is harmful, offensive, or inappropriate. This includes hate speech, violence, or any form of discrimination.
4. Illegal Activities: Avoid asking Copilot to assist with or provide information on illegal activities. This includes hacking, piracy, or any other unlawful actions.

Cautions When Using Copilot:
1. Verify Information: Always verify the information provided by Copilot, especially if it is critical or sensitive. Copilot's responses are based on available data and may not always be accurate or up-to-date.
2. Data Privacy: Be mindful of the data you share with Copilot. Avoid uploading documents or images that contain sensitive or confidential information.
3. Dependency: While Copilot can enhance productivity, avoid becoming overly reliant on it. Maintain your critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
4. Technical Glitches: Be prepared for occasional technical issues or inaccuracies. Have backup plans in place to handle such situations.

Here are some detailed safety and privacy considerations when using Copilot:

• Data Usage: Copilot accesses content and context that you provide. It doesn’t have access to organizational resources or content unless explicitly granted.
• Data Protection: Copilot uses encryption and other security measures to protect your data and content from unauthorized access or use. Chat data sent to and from Copilot is encrypted in transit and at rest during the chat session.
• Data Retention: Microsoft doesn’t retain prompts or responses from users when using Copilot. Prompts and responses are maintained for a short caching period for runtime purposes.
• Privacy Settings: Copilot allows you to manage your privacy settings and preferences, such as deleting your chat history, opting out of personalized suggestions, etc.
• Compliance: Copilot is compliant with existing privacy, security, and compliance commitments to Microsoft 365 commercial customers.
• General Security Best Practices: Regularly update software, use strong, unique passwords for all Microsoft accounts, enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) for added security, limit Copilot access to authorized users within your organization, review and customize Copilot’s data handling and privacy settings, and conduct regular security audits and compliance checks.

13. What is something that might take you a while to do that you could engage copilot to assist you to draft?

• Ask it to draft a report based on a bunch of bullets or information from a book, article, or website,
• draft a review of something,
• Draft a blog post or newsletter article.
• Draft a recommendation for a recognition or a job,
• produce a summary,
• produce a conference abstract, suggest titles for a presentation, draft a workshop description with learning outcomes, troubleshoot code, fix grammar, draft a job description etc.

14.
ask copilot for the answer!

15. In conclusion, Copilot can significantly improve your productivity, save time, and support continuous learning at work. It’s a powerful tool that can transform the way you work.

The key to effectively using Copilot is understanding its capabilities and limitations, and integrating it into your workflow where it can provide the most benefit. It’s a tool designed to assist, not replace, your intelligence and creativity.

For more information: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/copilot/faq

Slide Deck was generated with AI powered Haikudeck: https://www.haikudeck.com/ - recommended by copilot

Presentation Content was generated with the help of Copilot

CC-by Alexandra M. Pickett
Director, SUNY Online Teaching, State University of New York
alexandra.pickett@suny.edu