GenAI Tools

Generative AI, also known as GenAI, is a type of artificial intelligence that can create new content like text, images, videos, and music.

It can also learn from data and generate new data instances. Like any technology, generative AI offers both opportunities and risks to manage. UMBC is actively evaluating and exploring AI and the potential impact to teaching and learning, research and scholarship, administrative, and other functions within our community.

One of the critical issues with GenAI is that some tools use the information provided, such as documents, textual input, or other forms of content as training data for the GenAI service. Unless this information is considered public material, something you would publish on a web site for the Internet to see, you should not use content from UMBC on any GenAI service unless you know that UMBC has verified it is safe to use. Luckily, UMBC has access to a number of GenAI tools that have been verified as safe to use on UMBC Level 1 & FERPA data, which is data intended to be kept internal to UMBC.

Amplify

Amplify from Vanderbilt University is a front-end that allows individuals to interact with a variety of large-language models (LLM) in a controlled environment that protects institutional data from being used by the AI service. The LLMs that Amplify can presently (as of 3/4/2025) utilize are the Anthropic Claude 3.5 Haiku and Claude 3.5 Sonnet v2, OpenAI ChatGPT 4o, and Meta Llama 3.2 90b instruct models. Each of these LLMs has different strengths and weaknesses. There are also a number of more specialized LLM models that may be better for STEM tasks. Information on using Amplify at UMBC is available on the Amplify FAQ page.

DoIT, in consultation with the Provost’s office, is making Amplify AI free to use by employees. Amplify is validated to work with protected data the same as Microsoft and Google. Since Amplify is not a commercial product per se, there may be bugs in the code and some features are still evolving. To request an Amplify account, please fill out the DoIT Support – AI Tools form and select Amplify to get access.

  • Get Started:
  • Type: Conversation Based GenAI, GenAI Assistants
  • Approved Data Types: Public, Level 1, FERPA
  • Support: DoIT support – AI Tools

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OpenAI ChatGPT

ChatGPT from OpenAI, was the first mainstream GenAI tool and popularized GenAI as a tool for creators. This tool is available for approximately $20 a month. however the tool is only authorized for using with public information. Presently, UMBC does not have a campus license for ChatGPT and individuals may purchase the individual license by going to this form.

While you are waiting for ChatGPT institutional purchase, through UMBC’s Amplify product, employees may use the ChatGPT 4o version with UMBC Level 1 and FERPA data. Please fill out the DoIT Support – AI Tools form and select Amplify to get access.

Google Gemini AI (free)

Gemini AI is Google’s AI Generative AI product. Since UMBC has an enterprise license for Google Workspace and basic features of Gemini AI are available to all UMBC users free of charge. The information you type into Gemini AI is protected for Level 1 data, data which is not considered public. To use this tool, visit gemini.google.com.

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Google Gemini AI (paid)

We recommend that all users interested in Google Gemini try the free version to see how it works for you. If you find that you want to use Gemini heavily for complex documents, coding, or other tasks the paid version is available for $240 a year. Gemini also allows users to create what are called Gemini Gems, which can have custom prompts and contexts built in for creating your assistant. To request a premium license, employees should use the DoIT Support – AI Tools form and enter your chart string into the notes or form to charge for the year.

Microsoft CoPilot (free)

CoPilot  is Microsoft’s generative AI product built using OpenAI’s large language model. Since UMBC has an enterprise license for Microsoft the basic features of CoPilot are available to all UMBC users free of charge. The information you type into CoPilot is protected for Level 1 data, data which is not considered public. The free version of Microsoft Copilot provides an AI assistant designed to help you with a wide range of daily tasks and is especially useful if you are primarily use the Microsoft 365 products such as Word, Excel, Outlook, and Onenote. Whether you’re looking for quick answers, detailed explanations, or help with daily tasks, Copilot Chat makes it easier and more efficient to get things done. CoPilot can be accessed on the web, Windows, macOS, and iPadOS. The free version does have some limits placed during peak business hours.

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Microsoft CoPilot (paid)

We recommend that all users interested in Microsoft CoPilot try the free version to see how it works for you. If you find that you want to use CoPilot  directly in Word, Excel, Teams, or Outlook and plan to work on complex documents, or other tasks the paid version is available for approximately $240 a year.  To request a premium license, employees should use the DoIT Support – AI Tools form and enter your chart string into the notes or form to charge for the year for the paid version you have selected.