UNL-FERPA-Statement
UNL-supported AI systems are those included in existing software suites or AI platforms that are approved by UNL and obey FERPA guidelines.
Copilot
Copilot
Copilot is a real-time AI-assistance tool from Microsoft that uses a large language model (LLM) to generate creative content and improve productivity. Other UNL-supported Microsoft products, such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams, can also be integrated within Copilot. Because UNL supports this AI, its data is not used to train other models.
Microsoft also offers a Responsible AI Standard and AI Principles for its services. It states that accountability, transparency, fairness, reliability, safety, privacy, security, and inclusiveness are important when using its products.
Integration
Copilot is part of the Microsoft 365 suite of tools, which also includes Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Because of this, the software can function with any of these tools, allowing you to create or revise documents within Copilot (i.e., create an Excel spreadsheet after prompting for the required information).
Agents
Copilot agents are custom bots that you can create and train to help with specific tasks. For example, they can be designed to work on data analysis, respond to real-time questions on specialized topics, streamline and automate tasks, and adapt to change over time.
The article Copilot and AI Agents provides more detailed information about the capabilities of agents.
Other Features
Copilot can also serve as a conversational GPT, generate images, or produce documents. For example, it can be used to create teaching materials such as syllabi, rubrics, or assessments. It could also be used in conjunction with other specialized media AI tools, such as for audio and video, for example. See AI Pedagogical Tools for more info (insert live link here)
Adobe Firefly
Adobe Firefly
What is Adobe Firefly and How to Use it
Adobe Firefly is an umbrella name for the group of AI models that are able to create, edit, and augment images, text, video, and audio. Adobe Firefly is directly integrated into the known Adobe applications, such as Photoshop, Illustrator, and Premiere. Adobe products are designed to directly integrate with one another. Allowing for a near-seamless integration when working on a project. Being able to adjust audio in Adobe Audition to be played immediately in Adobe Premiere, as an example. Adobe Firefly further avails itself to be able to create and augment material for the user.
The benefits of using the Adobe Firefly over other generative software (currently excluding CoPilot) are compliance and support, as both are UNL-supported. This means that the software is FERPA compliant (will not give out identifiable student information to third parties), and assistance can be provided with the software in the form of in-house guides and support. While these are FERPA compliant, you should ensure that no intellectual property (IP) or defining student or professional member information is used. If the information must be used, then disallowing the software to retain and learn from the input is imperative.
Where to Get Access
Adobe is a UNL-supported software that you can request access to. For faculty, staff, and student instructions, you can follow the Adobe software request guide.
Adobe AI for Editing and Accessibility
One of the more topical applications of Firefly is the ability to assist in remediating documentation. With Title II requiring all public-facing documentation to be accessible by April 2027, many PDFs that are used in content and publications are static images and thus not accessible. One way this can be remediated is by using Firefly in the Adobe suite, in this example, Adobe Express. Adobe Express is an “all-in-one" content creation and editing web application (or mobile). Firefly is able to scan images of PDF documents, change the static text to dynamic text, and is able to mimic the font to allow direct editing of documents that may be over 100 years old without an awkward juxtaposition of fonts.