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FAQ
Have questions about AI tools and services at Western? Find answers below about general information about AI, Gemini, and Microsoft Copilot.
General
Western’s five principles for using AI are integrity, privacy, accountability, inclusion, and transparency. You are responsible for reviewing and fact-checking AI outputs, protecting personal and confidential information, considering accessibility and fairness, and being transparent about your use of AI.
Instructors must clearly state whether generative AI is allowed, limited, or prohibited in their course. Students are responsible for checking their Course Outline before using AI tools — using AI in a way that violates an instructor's stated rules may constitute academic misconduct.
Confidential or sensitive institutional data should only be used with Western-approved AI tools that provide appropriate data protections, and only while signed in with your Western account. Never enter personal, confidential, or sensitive data into public consumer AI tools. Public data may be used in any AI tools.
Start with small, low-risk everyday tasks. Try asking a tool to summarize a long piece of text, rewrite an email draft for tone, brainstorm titles or meeting agendas, or explain a complex topic in plain language.
You can also enroll in the AI Literacy Course in BrightSpace.
The AI at Western website provides a comprehensive AI Glossary to help students, faculty, and staff navigate terms like prompts, tokens, grounding, and large language models.
Yes. You can enroll in the AI Literacy Course on BrightSpace.
Gemini
Gemini is Google’s generative AI assistant. It can help with brainstorming, writing, learning, research, summarizing information, and generating content.
Western’s Gemini pilot is available to eligible faculty and staff. Student access is currently not available.
Yes. Access to Gemini is provided to eligible Western faculty and staff as part of the institutional pilot.
Start with a simple, low-risk task, such as: “Give me ideas for a presentation about ___,” “Explain ___ in plain language,” or “Help me improve this draft.”
Copilot and Gemini are suited to different kinds of work, so Western is piloting Gemini rather than asking one tool to do everything well. Copilot Chat, the tool most people already have, is a general chat assistant with only limited reach into Outlook and Teams. Working with your own files and data requires the separate, paid M365 Copilot add-on. Gemini Enterprise offers that same kind of document-grounded work, and Gemini Notebook further lets you upload your own material and get answers with citations back to the source. The Gemini Enterprise pilot lets Western understand better the type of products we will want moving forward.
Gemini Notebook lets you add documents, links, notes, and other sources, then ask questions or generate summaries based on that material. Its responses can include citations showing where the information came from.
Use Gemini for open-ended tasks such as general questions, brainstorming, drafting, and learning about new topics. Use Gemini Notebook when you want the AI to work from a specific set of documents, links, or notes you provide, with responses grounded in those sources.
Connectors let Gemini securely access information from other Microsoft 365 tools you use. Western has enabled connectors for Outlook, OneDrive, Teams, and SharePoint. Each connector must be authorized individually, and Gemini can only access information you already have permission to use.
Yes. Western has enabled connectors for services including Outlook, OneDrive, Teams, and SharePoint. Once you authorize a connector, Gemini can use information you already have permission to access.
No. You can use Gemini without connecting your Microsoft 365 account. Connectors are optional and are only needed if you want Gemini to access information from services such as Outlook, OneDrive, Teams, or SharePoint.
In Gemini, open the Tools or Connectors menu near the prompt box. Turn on the services you want to use, such as Outlook, Teams, OneDrive, SharePoint, or choose to enable all connectors. You may be asked to approve access the first time you connect a service.
No. You could choose to only turn on the connectors you need for your task. For example, if you want Gemini to help you find information from your Western email, you can turn on Outlook.
You can ask Gemini to work with information from connected services. For example:
“Summarize my recent emails about this project.”
“Find the latest information about this project in Teams.”
“Find the document about this topic in OneDrive or SharePoint.”
“Summarize my recent emails about this project.”
“Find the latest information about this project in Teams.”
“Find the document about this topic in OneDrive or SharePoint.”
Gemini includes tools that can help it do more than answer a normal chat question. For example, you may be able to search company data, search the web, conduct deeper research, create images, or use connected Western services.
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No. When you use Gemini Enterprise while signed in with your Western account, your prompts and responses aren't used to train Google's AI models, and your conversations aren't reviewed by humans to improve the product.
The main difference is the account you're signed into and the data-protection terms that come with it. The consumer version of Gemini (signing in with a personal Google or Gmail account) doesn't carry any special protections for what you type in or upload.
When you sign in with your Western account, you're using Gemini Enterprise, and Google's Workspace data-protection terms apply. Under those terms, your prompts and responses aren't used to train Google's AI models, your conversations aren't reviewed by humans to improve the product, and your content isn't shared with other users or organizations. See Data Privacy & Security above for more detail.
Because these protections only apply when you're signed in with your Western account, it's worth double-checking which account you're using, especially if you're signed into more than one Google account in your browser.
Gemini Enterprise's data residency location is configured at the organizational level, so you do not need to select a location when choosing a model. Where possible data resides in Canada or in the EU under the GDPR.
Microsoft Copilot
Copilot Chat is Microsoft’s generative AI assistant available to the Western community. You can use it to draft or rewrite content, summarize uploaded documents, brainstorm ideas, ask general questions, and get help getting started. When you sign in with your Western account, Copilot Chat includes Enterprise Data Protection.
Copilot Chat is available to Western users with an eligible Microsoft 365 account. Sign in with your Western credentials to access Enterprise Data Protection and keep your activity within Western’s protected Microsoft environment.
Sign in to Copilot Chat with your Western Microsoft 365 account. Before entering University information, make sure you are signed in with your Western credentials and look for the green shield icon, which indicates Enterprise Data Protection is active.
Copilot Chat is included with eligible Western Microsoft 365 accounts. You do not need the separate Microsoft 365 Copilot license to use Copilot Chat.
You could start with something simple, such as: “Summarize this document,” “Help me draft an email,” or “Explain this topic in simple language.”
Microsoft 365 Copilot is a paid AI add-on that works directly inside Microsoft 365 apps such as Word, Outlook, Teams, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote. It can use information you already have permission to access, such as files, emails, and Teams content, to help with your work.
Copilot Chat is a general AI chat tool that can help with tasks like drafting, brainstorming, summarizing, and answering questions. It is primarily used through a chat interface and is included with eligible Western Microsoft 365 accounts.
Microsoft 365 Copilot is integrated directly into Microsoft 365 apps such as Word, Outlook, Teams, Excel, and PowerPoint. It can use information you already have access to, such as your files, emails, and Teams content, to assist with work directly within those applications. Microsoft 365 Copilot requires a separate paid licence.
Microsoft 365 Copilot is integrated directly into Microsoft 365 apps such as Word, Outlook, Teams, Excel, and PowerPoint. It can use information you already have access to, such as your files, emails, and Teams content, to assist with work directly within those applications. Microsoft 365 Copilot requires a separate paid licence.
Microsoft 365 Copilot requires a paid license. Faculty and staff can submit a purchase request through JIRA.