UAB’s AI tools can help you optimize your work — and you can personalize them to get the most out of your day.

Major AI tools available include Microsoft Copilot — both a free and paid version — as well as companion AI components in Box, Adobe Creative Cloud and Zoom, with more tools currently being evaluated for use.

Get creative with prompting

Jerad Watson, manager for Organizational Learning & Development, uses Microsoft Copilot 365, a paid version that offers an AI assistant that interacts with all of your data in email, Teams and other Office tools, while keeping your information safe. He also hosts a regular series for OL&D called AI @ Work. You can find recordings of previous trainings here.

Watson uses Copilot in a variety of ways, from simple text editing to planning. Many of his prompts work with both versions of Copilot. For example:

• Text review and editing: “Rewrite the following text to … (be more professional, be more personable, place my request in the best place to grab their attention, to be shorter, etc.)
• Brainstorming and research: “Help me think of 100 different ways I could accomplish [insert your task, project, problem]”
• Google replacement: “Explain [insert new concept I just heard someone say] to me with easy takeaways in bullet points.”
• Technical question: “What HTML tag will make the following text show up as a button that is accessible?”
• Planning: “Based on my calendar and emails, what are my 3 main priorities this week.” Note: This requires the paid version of Copilot.
• Data analysis: “Based on the comments pulled from a survey below, what trends do you see and what actions would you suggest to address the trends? [insert Past Raw Data].”

Personalize your experience

In both versions of Copilot, you can personalize the way the chatbot interacts with you. Maybe you want text only in Associated Press style or bullet points — just tell Copilot what you prefer.

In Copilot chat, just click the three dots in the upper right-hand corner, pull down to Settings and click on Personalization. There you can input Personalization notes.

Rachel Moorehead, executive director for infrastructure and operations in UAB IT, uses a set of personalization instructions to customize the Copilot chatbot, including punctuation preferences, source discipline and tone. In particular, the source discipline instructions help separate what is verified information from what the chatbot infers.

“I’m telling it how I like to receive my information, and it helps me know what should have a greater ‘surety’ than other contexts,” Moorehead said.

Copilot keeps a record of your chats, but you can also tell it to remember something when you’re interacting with it, so it can use that for context later.

Have a conversation

Most AI tools, including Copilot, have an audio feature that allows you to speak to the chatbot and develop a conversation. For Matt Windsor, senior writer with UAB Marketing and Communications, that’s the best way for him to learn more about a topic.

“One thing I have done is start asking about a topic I am writing about, using the audio feature, and then ask follow-up questions in a conversation style about things that sound interesting,” Windsor said. “There’s something about a conversation that is helpful to me.”

Windsor often writes about the wide variety of research topics across campus, so AI helps him explore more about a topic before interviewing a researcher for a story.

As with any AI tool at UAB, use caution and make sure you review inputs and outputs, especially before presenting content publicly.