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Generative AI tools

There are many Generative AI tools available. The following lists provide examples of some of the most popular ones. If you think an important tool is missing, email us to let us know.

Before you use one of these tools, look at the Gen AI quick checklist for a useful summary of what to consider before starting work.

Protecting data and content while using AI tools

It is very important to be careful about the information you provide to Generative AI tools. Staff should not upload University intellectual property to any Generative AI tool, other than the Enterprise version of Copilot (where you are logged in with your University credentials), because this could constitute a breach of contract.

Do not enter any personal or sensitive information about yourself or others into a Generative AI tool. Doing so risks the data being shared online or being used to train the AI. It would be a breach of GDPR to share someone else’s information.

We strongly recommend that you do not upload copyrighted materials to any AI tool. It is still unclear how AI tools are covered by copyright law, but many academic publishers specifically prohibit the upload of their copyrighted content into AI tools, so doing so would be a breach of our licence agreements.

If you are doing any work, or setting assessments for students, where copyrighted documents would need to be provided to a Generative AI tool, we strongly recommend using Copilot (instead of ChatGPT, Claude, etc). This is because we have assurances from Microsoft that our Enterprise version of Copilot does not store any data from users or use it to train its AI model.

Read more about the rules and restrictions when providing data to AI tools.

Microsoft Copilot

Microsoft Copilot is a suite of AI-powered productivity solutions developed by Microsoft. It uses the Chat GPT-4 Generative AI model. Everyone at the University who has a full Microsoft licence can access the browser-based Copilot chat. Logging in with your University login details ensures you are working within the Enterprise version, and the information you provide to the tool is not stored or used except to answer your prompts. For work purposes, including assessed work, Copilot should be used unless there is a good reason why it can’t be.

See the introduction to Microsoft Copilot from IT Services. It explains how to access Copilot and how it can help with tasks such as: coding, writing, generating images, answering general questions.

Please note that the University of Leeds is not endorsing any of the tools in these lists. You should not use any of them unless you can ensure that doing so complies fully with all relevant University policies, including data protection and intellectual property, as well as relevant legislation eg GDPR and The Copyright, Design and Patents Act.

Text AI tools

Examples of text Gen AI tools:

Gen AI tools built on top of Gen AI tools:

  • ChatPDF (summarises and answers questions about submitted PDF documents)
  • Elicit (aims to automate parts of researchers’ workflows, identifying relevant papers and summarising key information)
  • WebChatGPT (Google Chrome extension that gives ChatGPT Internet access, to enable more accurate and up-to-date conversations)

Multimedia Gen AI

Examples of image, video and music Gen AI tools: