Summary
This article provides information on USNH's approved chatbot and AI assistant options: Microsoft Copilot with EDP and DeepThought.
Get Started with Copilot and DeepThought
USNH's approved generative AI platforms are Microsoft Copilot Chat with Enterprise Data Protection (EDP) and DeepThought.
When you sign in with your USNH credentials, both tools provide privacy, security and compliance protections for university use.
Alternative chatbots must complete the Security Assessment Review (SAR) process before purchase or implementation to ensure compliance with university security standards (contact RCC support).
Free AI tools and non-approved platforms may store or analyze your submitted information to train their models.
Before entering university data into an AI tool:
Which AI Tool Should I Use?
| Use case |
Recommended AI option |
Notes/access requirements |
General AI use (up to Tier III data*)
Example: analyzing lesson plans |
DeepThought or Microsoft Copilot with EDP |
Suitable for everyday analysis and productivity tasks involving approved institutional data |
| Coding and development integration** |
DeepThought |
Designed for technical workflows and development use cases. |
| Autonomous agents |
DeepThought |
AI that completes tasks independently |
* Users must be logged in with their USNH credentials when using sensitive data.
** For coding, development integration or use of autonomous agents, contact RCC Support for information: https://usnh.edu/it/rcc-support
More on DeepThought
DeepThought is USNH’s AI platform, hosted on the USNH network, designed for creating personal and custom AI chatbots. You can build chatbots around specific topics, upload documents, scrape websites, and integrate shared data sources. Conversations can be saved and resumed at any time.
The platform includes several free language models (LLMs), which keep data private on the USNH network. Premium models like ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini are also available for use with public data.
Additional features include:
- File download support, including docx, pdf, txt, csv, html, css, js, py, r, json, xml, php, ics, etc.
- Creation and mailing of emails, with the option to preview your email before sending
Examples of public custom DeepThought chatbots:
Personal chatbots, including custom conversations, are available to faculty and staff through single sign-on at: deepthought.usnh.edu
If you are interested in configuring a custom chatbot or using a premium model, please submit a request to RCC Support.
Continue learning about DeepThought:
More on Microsoft Copilot with EDP
Copilot is Microsoft's branded chatbot, leveraging ChatGPT and Microsoft’s model to provide assistance. It is free to users through USNH's Microsoft agreement.
Always sign in with your USNH credentials and verify that Enterprise Data Protection (EDP) is enabled. If you navigate to Copilot through a web browser, you may be prompted to select a log-in method. Select the "Microsoft" option so you can log in with your USNH credentials.
When EDP is active, you'll see a small green shield with a check mark in the upper-right corner of your window. When you see this shield, Copilot is providing enterprise protections for your conversations and uploaded content:
Copilot offers a conversational interface for generating text, summarizing information, creating images and automating tasks within apps like Windows, Microsoft 365 and GitHub. If you need Copilot integrated with your M365 environment, please contact the USNH Research Computing Center (RCC).
Continue learning about Copilot:
Further Readings
AI Chatbots at USNH: Frequently Asked Questions
USNH AI Tools: Understanding Data Tiers
DeepThought: Chatbot Settings and Administration
DeepThought: Working with Documents
Need additional help?
Visit Workday Learning to find our courses on working with DeepThought:
For additional questions or inquiries about custom chatbots, please fill out the Research Computing Center Request Form.