Microsoft Copilot
Microsoft Copilot is an advanced AI-powered assistant designed to provide information, answer questions, and engage in meaningful conversations with users. It’s a feature within Bing that uses cutting-edge technology to deliver relevant and useful responses. It’s like having a knowledgeable companion at your fingertips, ready to assist you with a wide range of topics.
Copilot is also the name of a sute of AI Powered assistants you may find in other Microsoft tools (aka Copilot for Microsoft 365).
“Copilot” is generally available to all staff (see below for more details), however specific Copilots assistants may not be available to members of University staff, within some applications and versions of Windows.
Supplier | Microsoft Corp |
|---|---|
Supplier Web Site |
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Licenses / Terms of Use | |
Institutional License for Use | Yes Copilot Chat is included as part of Microsoft Bing Search, and covered by Commercial Data Protection license. Yes M365 Copilot may be separately licensed individually |
Personally Licensable | Yes |
Content used to train model | NO |
Red Indicates a warning / inappropriate use | Yellow Indicates a caution. | Green Acceptable |
Questions
What can Copilot do?
Copilot can be used in numerous ways. For instance, it can help with academic research by providing detailed explanations on complex topics, assist in learning new languages by offering translations, or even aid in coding by suggesting code snippets. It’s also capable of generating creative content such as poems, stories, and more. The possibilities are vast, making Copilot a versatile tool for University staff.
Starting April 15, 2026, Copilot will no longer be available in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote for Copilot Chat users. To ensure a high-quality experience, we are reserving the full Copilot experience in these apps—with advanced reasoning and model choice—for users with a paid Microsoft 365 Copilot license.
Who can use Copilot?
Users at the University of Strathclyde are able to access Microsoft Copilot for Bing Chat via the Microsoft Edge browser, and Copilot Chat.
Microsoft have amended (in the UK) use of Copilot by over 13s, at least in terms of the commerical / enterprise version the University licenses.
Consumer versions of Copilot may be used by Over 18s, or younger with parent/legal guardian permission.
What Copilots are there?
Microsoft Copilot is a collection of a number of different Copilots that support different Microsoft tools and suites. You can find Copilots for (non-exhaustive):
Copilot Chat - Online & integrated in to Microsoft Windows
M365 Copilot
Word
Excel
Powerpoint
Power BI
Power Automate
Github
Can I use Microsoft Copilot with my day-to-day work?
YES You may use both Copilot Chat and M365 Copilot (if you hold a license).
You may use Copilot Chat and M365 Copilot with personal and sensitive information, providing you understand the obligations towards Data Protection & Security, and are signed in correctly.
You are only covered by the Commercial Data Protected License if you have logged in with your University Microsoft Account.
If you are offered a choice, you should select the “Sign in with a work or school account”
The green shield should indicate that you are covered by the Commercial data protection:
Can I use M365 Copilot ?
YES Currently the M365 Copilot is not universally licensed by the University of Strathclyde. You may be able to gain access through it.
Use of Microsoft Copilot that you have personally licensed, even if you use your University of Strathclyde email address, is not covered under the University’s licensing of Microsoft products.
Other Copilots
This guidance is not exhaustive.
MAYBE Where Copilot has been integrated into other Microsoft Products you may be able to legitimately use the feature.
In some cases Copilot provides mechanisms to help the use of the Product, and would not necessarily be problematic.
However any case where personal, confidential or otherwise sensitive data would be made available should be avoided.
How does Copilot work?
The following graphic shows the complex process and involvement of Large Language Models, and other services to enable the Microsoft 365 Copilot.
It is worth highlighting from the graphic the areas where it is made explicit on how the institutional/user data is not used for training of foundational models.