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Tools and Use Guidance
Generative AI tools are becoming part of everyday work and learning at Northwestern, and this page helps you get familiar with what’s available. Whether you’re drafting content, summarizing meetings, analyzing data, or just looking for ways to make your day a little easier, this guide breaks down each supported AI tool, who can use it, and what it’s best for. Use this chart as a starting point to find the right tool and get the most out of it.
Chart Last Updated: June 2, 2026
| Tool Name | What Does It Do? | Who Can Use It? | Recommended Use Cases | Data Types Allowed | Cost | Teach Me How to Use It |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft AI Assistance | ||||||
| Microsoft Copilot Chat (Basic) | General-purpose AI chatbot; uses GPT and DALL-E models from Open AI | Faculty, Staff, Students | Answer questions, summarize documents, draft emails/content, write code, brainstorm ideas, etc. |  Level 1 (Yes) |
Included with Northwestern Microsoft account | Learn to Use Copilot Chat |
| Microsoft 365 Copilot (Premium) | Expanded AI tool embedded in core Microsoft 365 applications; includes Researcher and Analyst functions; option to choose Claude models from Anthropic | Faculty, Staff | Work with and search files and information across your Microsoft account, draft emails and documents, summarize meetings and chats, analyze data in Excel, create presentations, etc. | Level 1 (Yes) |
Requires Microsoft 365 Copilot licensing | Learn Microsoft 365 Copilot |
| Microsoft Copilot for Teams | Meeting transcriptions and summaries; tagging individual users with action items | Faculty, Staff | Summarize meetings, capture action items, answer chat questions, draft follow ups, etc. | Level 1 (Yes) |
Requires Microsoft 365 Copilot licensing | Learn Microsoft Copilot for Teams |
| Microsoft Teams Premium | Builds on the Teams experience with added capabilities to make meetings more personalized, intelligent, and protected | Faculty, Staff | Host advanced events and webinars, secure end-to-end encrypted meeting conversations, access AI meeting recaps and searchable transcripts | Level 1 (Yes) |
Requires Teams add-on license | Learn Microsoft Teams Premium |
| Other General Generative AI Tools | ||||||
| Google Gemini (Coming Soon) | General-purpose AI chatbot included with Google Workspace accounts for students | Faculty, Staff, Students | Answer questions, summarize documents, draft emails/content, assist with coding, etc. | Level 1 (Yes) |
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| ChatGPT Business | Access to OpenAI tools and services for two or more people working on the same team | Faculty, Staff, Students | When working with University administrative or research data, the Business plan provides some increased data protections over individual plans or free usage | Level 1 (Yes) |
Purchase directly from OpenAI; seat and usage-based costs; see the ChatGPT Business documentation for details | ChatGPT Business documentation |
| Claude Team | Access to Anthropic tools and services for five or more people working on the same team | Faculty, Staff, Students | When working with University administrative or research data, the Team plan provides some increased data protections over individual plans or free usage | Level 1 (Yes) |
Purchase directly from Anthropic; seat and usage-based costs; see the Claude Team documentation for details | Claude Team documentation |
| Publicly-Available AI Tools and Services (e.g., Claude, ChatGPT, etc.) | A wide range of tools are available, including general purpose AI chatbots and coding assistance tools | Faculty, Staff, Students | Working with public data only | Level 1 (Yes) |
Free; cost for individual subscription plans varies | |
| Developer AI Tools | ||||||
| Amazon Bedrock on Amazon Web Services (AWS) | Cloud-based platform for accessing Meta Llama and Amazon Nova models via API | Faculty, Staff, Students | API access to general purpose foundation LLMs | Level 1 (Yes) |
Pay-as-you-go AWS pricing; Faculty and Staff can set up a Northwestern-affiliated account | Find Amazon Bedrock Docs |
| GitHub Copilot | Coding assistance in coding editors, at the command line, or on GitHub using models from Open AI, Anthropic, Google, and other providers | Faculty, Staff, Students | Coding assistance and code review | Level 1 (Yes) |
Per user cost for organizations in the Northwestern GitHub enterprise account; available to students and teaching faculty for free through GitHub Education | Find GitHub Copilot Docs |
| Microsoft Foundry on Microsoft Azure | Cloud-based platform for accessing OpenAI ChatGPT, Meta Llama, and Microsoft foundation models via API | Faculty, Staff, Students | API access to general purpose foundation LLMs | Level 1 (Yes) |
Pay-as-you-go Azure pricing; Faculty and Staff can set up a Northwestern-affiliated account; Students can get a $100 credit | Learn more about Microsoft Foundry |
| Vertex AI on Google Cloud | Cloud-based platform for accessing Google Gemini models via API |
Faculty, Staff, Students
|
API access to general purpose foundation LLMs | Level 1 (Yes) |
Pay-as-you-go Google Cloud pricing; Faculty/Staff account setup; Student account setup, including $300 initial credit | Find Vertex AI Docs |
| Tools with AI Features | ||||||
| Adobe Creative Cloud | Enables you to create, edit, and publish content across various media using tools like Photoshop, Illustrator, and Premiere Pro; bolstered by AI features, cloud storage, and asset libraries | Faculty, Staff | Producing brand assets (logos, brochures), advanced image editing, high-quality video production for social media/film, creating interactive mobile/web designs, and 3D modeling | Levels 1, 2 (Yes) |
Annual cost | Learn about Adobe Creative Cloud |
| ArcGIS | Identify and classify objects in geographic imagery and data with ArcGIS Pro. | Faculty, Staff, Students; ArcGIS Pro is only available for Windows. | Research involving point cloud data or aerial, satellite, or other geographic images | Levels 1, 2 (Yes) |
Access to the features is included with Northwestern's ArcGIS license; analysis using ArcGIS Online may have an additional cost | Learn about GIS |
| EndNote 2025 | Citation management software that includes AI search and summarization features | Faculty, Staff, Students | Academic literature search management and summarization of academic articles | Level 1 (Yes) |
Free for Northwestern students, faculty, and staff | Northwestern Libraries EndNote Research Guide |
| Panopto | AI-generated captions | Faculty, Staff, Students | Provided automatically on all uploaded videos; supports accessibility requirements. Can be edited or deleted. | Level 1 (Yes) |
Included with Northwestern Panopto account | Automatic on all recordings |
| Zoom AI Companion Meeting Features | Generative AI digital assistant for meetings | Faculty, Staff, Students | Summarize meetings, ask in-meeting questions, smart recordings | Level 1 (Yes) |
Included with Northwestern Zoom account | Learn about the features |