Enhance Your AI Skills—Getting the Most Out of Copilot Chat

Whether you’re exploring new ways to enhance productivity or looking to streamline your daily tasks, Microsoft’s Copilot Chat, available at no cost to all Northwestern students, faculty, and staff, offers a secure and intuitive AI assistant that can support learning, research, and administrative work across campus. Copilot Chat can assist directly with summarizing articles, drafting emails, exploring frameworks and methodologies, and much more. If you are unfamiliar with Copilot’s capabilities, take a moment to view these introductory videos.

Videos: Copilot Basics

• Meet Copilot*
• What you can do with Copilot*
• Start Using Copilot*

Now that you have familiarized yourself with Copilot’s capabilities, it is essential to understand how to gain the most value from generative AI tools like Copilot. Remember that these tools are only as effective as the instructional prompts we give them.

Create Effective Prompts

A thoughtful prompt can turn a vague answer into a useful, well‑balanced, nuanced response that brings in multiple perspectives and practical considerations. Well‑crafted prompts guide Copilot to consider multiple viewpoints, roles, or academic lenses, resulting in responses that reflect current context or real‑world situations.

When crafting prompts, consider adding one or more of the following elements:

• Meeting Summary—I am a staff member at Northwestern. Please summarize the following meeting notes for a mixed audience of faculty and staff. Highlight key decisions, deadlines, student‑facing updates, and any follow‑up tasks we need to track. Use a clear, bulleted format and keep the tone professional and concise. Also list any open questions that require clarification.
• Resource Guide—I work in advising at Northwestern. Create a two‑paragraph resource guide for students that explains available academic support services, when to use them, and how to access them. Use a welcoming, supportive tone.
• Research Paper—Provide a framework for a research paper on the history of Chicago. Include at least 10 different perspectives, such as those of residents, former public servants, and historians. For each perspective, provide the source and describe key considerations, benefits, limitations, and relevant reasoning or evidence.
• Project Proposal—I am an administrator at Northwestern. Please provide a concise and neutral summary of the following project charter for senior leadership. Focus on strategic value, risks, timeline, and resource needs. Present the information in more than one format so it can be incorporated into a slide deck or a website.

Edit and Verify 

Finally, always edit and verify the response to ensure it reflects your own situation, writing style, and tone. Review for bias and ensure any references given are valid. The Northwestern Libraries website provides a resource guide for evaluating AI-generated content. 

Videos: Additional Resources on Prompting

Are you looking for more information on the basics of prompting? The following video tutorials are short and offer an introduction to prompts within Copilot.

• The Basics of Prompting
  • What is a prompt?*
  • What makes a good prompt?
  • Quick tips for better prompts

Want to Do Even More with Copilot?

Faculty and staff who are interested in purchasing a Copilot for Microsoft 365 license with document-level integration and extended features can now do so. This paid, optional add-on license provides expanded AI capabilities beyond the free version. Copilot for Microsoft 365 is embedded across core Microsoft 365 applications—including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, and OneDrive—and operates fully within Northwestern’s security, compliance, and data boundaries. Purchasing instructions through iBuyNU are available on the Microsoft Copilot service page, or contact your local IT support staff for purchasing details.  

*Video refers to some features not available in the University’s free version of Copilot.