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.

GenAI 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 its potential impact on 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 several 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 from Vanderbilt University is a chat interface that allows the ability to use a variety of large-language models (LLMs) in a controlled environment that protects institutional data from being used by the AI service. The LLMs that Amplify can access include the Anthropic Claude, OpenAI 4o, o1, and o3 series, and Meta Llama models. Each of these LLMs has different strengths and weaknesses. Several more specialized LLM models may be better for STEM tasks. Information on using Amplify at UMBC is available on the Amplify FAQ page.

The Division of Information Technology (DoIT), in consultation with the Provost’s office, is making Amplify AI free for employees to use. Amplify is validated to work with protected data. Since Amplify is not a commercial product, 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.

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ChatGPT from OpenAI was one of the first mainstream GenAI tools and popularized GenAI as a tool for creators. UMBC does not have a campus license for ChatGPT, and requests for purchase at this time must follow the UMBC Procurement Cloud Services/Software Review Process. NOTE: use of ChatGPT is only authorized for use with public information.

If you’re interested in access to the OpenAI models, employees may access the OpenAI 4o, o1, and o3 series models through UMBC’s Amplify instance, and use the models with Level 1 and FERPA information. Please fill out the DoIT Support—AI Tools form and select Amplify to get access.

Gemini AI is Google’s Generative AI platform. Since UMBC has an enterprise license for Google Workspace, the 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, which is not considered public. To use this tool, visit gemini.google.com.

Integration with the Google Workspace Suite (Gmail, Docs, Slides, etc) involves purchase of Google Gemini Advanced (see next section).

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Google Gemini Education Premium is an additional paid license that provides powerful and performant features and integrates Gemini into the Google Workspace suite (Gmail, Docs, Slides, Meet, etc). This license includes everything in Gemini Education plus additional advanced features like AI-powered note taking and summaries in Meet, AI-enhanced data loss prevention, and more coming soon. Gemini also allows users to create what are called Gemini Gems, which can have custom prompts and contexts built in for creating your assistant. This add-on provides full access and usage of generative AI tools in Google Workspace.

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 $360 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. DoIT will establish an MOU with your department to perform an annual chargeback for the cost of the license(s).

CoPilot is Microsoft’s generative AI product, which was 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. 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.

Integration with the Microsoft 365 Suite (Word, Excel, Teams, etc.) involves purchase of Microsoft Copilot Pro (see next section).

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Microsoft Copilot Pro is an additional paid license that provides powerful and performant features and integrates Copilot into the Microsoft 365 suite (Word, Excel, Teams, etc). More information can be found on the Microsoft Copilot Pro page.

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 $336 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. DoIT will establish an MOU with your department to perform an annual chargeback for the cost of the license(s).

**Costs fluctuate and may be subject to change**