Generative AI tools

generative ai

Common tools and how to use them

Most of us have heard of ChatGPT, Copilot, and perhaps one or two other Generative AI tools but there are many others. Below you will find a list of the most common in several categories along with tutorials and other resources.

Unless otherwise noted, presence of a tool on this page or Ithaka's product tracker does not constitute an official recommendation or that the tools have been vetted by University of Missouri System. Likewise, it does not indicate that these tools are suitable for FERPA-protected information. These tools are considered suitable only for information that can be made publicly available. Instructors should not upload identifiable student work into an AI and consider student copyright as well. 

UM System AI approved tools

Microsoft's Copilot

At this time, two of Microsoft's Copilots are available through the University.

  • Bing Chat Enterprise (a version of Bing Copilot for use with your university Microsoft account)
  • Windows Copilot

Tools integrated with Canvas that contain generative AI features

Tutorials

General/multi-purpose tools

Product Tracker

The Ithaka educational community maintains an excellent curated Product Tracker of AIs for many different purposes in education. The Product Tracker is a list of tools for many academic uses curated by a consortium of universities. It is also available as an easy to download Google Doc.

Generative AI in Higher Education: The Product Landscape describes how the product tracker was developed and what it includes.

General, or multi-purpose tools are able to do X Y AND Z

ChatGPT is the chatbot that ignited general interest in LLMs. The free and paid versions use GPT-4. The free version can generate basic images with Python Mathplot. The paid version uses and DALL-E 3. 

  • Available through the web and via mobile apps
  • Plugins, GPTs, and Data Analysis available through paid version
  • File and image uploads allowed
  • Data Classification Level 1: Public information only
  • Missouri Online ChatGPT Tutorial: COMING SOON

Availability: Freemium. Paid UM accounts authorized through DoIT.

Copilot offers AI search, chatbot, writing assistance, and image generation using GPT-3.5/4/4o, Deucalion, and DALLE-3. Copilot works best with MS Edge browser or mobile apps.

  • Available both through a link in any web browser and through the Copilot icon in MS Edge. 
  • If used with a UM account, it enters a "protected" mode that is somewhat more private, but still not suitable for FERPA Information. 
  • Images generated with Copilot can be edited in the Preview version of MS Designer.
  • Plugins and phone apps are available. 
  • Data Classification Level 1: Public information only
  • Missouri Online Bing Copilot/BCE Tutorial: COMING SOON

Availability: Freemium - some features may be used anonymously. A protected mode (chats are deleted when the browser/app is closed) is available through Um accounts.

Formerly Bard, Gemini is Google's current chatbot using Gemini Pro (free version branded as Gemini) or Gemini Ultra (paid version branded as Gemini Advanced). Allows image generation through Imagen 2. 

  • Can review results using Google search to find similar or contradictory information. 
  • Can save output directly to other Google tools. 
  • Can regenerate specific portions of an answer if desired. 
  • Paid version allows uploading up of to 1M token-documents (about 75,000 words) and offers data analysis
  • Data Classification Level 1: Public information only
  • Missouri Online Gemini Tutorial: COMING SOON

Availability: Freemium. Paid accounts using personal Google accounts authorized through DoIT in a limited pilot.

Image/multimedia tools

IMAGE TOOLS can do these things!

Adobe Firefly is a suite of image tools from Adobe trained on their data. It is perhaps best known for its generative image fills to allow expansion or editing of images.

  • Adobe claims that Firefly was trained on ethically and legally sourced data
  • Some features are already integrated into other Adobe products. 
  • Data Classification Level 1: Public information only
  • Missouri Online Firefly Tutorial: COMING SOON

Availability: Freemium. Available with UM Adobe accounts. Some Firefly tools are also available through UM-licensed Adobe products.

DALL-E is OpenAI's text-to-image tool. It is particularly noted for its ability to create text in images. DALL-E 3 is accessed through ChatGPT, which will refine prompts to produce better results. 

  • DALL-E is also available through:
    • MS Copilot (free but not anonymous).
    • Perplexity (Pro accounts only).
    • Other image interfaces such as Nightcafé.
    • Data Classification Level 1: Public information only

Availability: Freemium

Stable Diffusion is a powerful family of text-to-image models.

  • Allows negative prompts (telling it what not to do).
  • Also available through other image interfaces such as Nightcafé.
  • Data Classification Level 1: Public information only

Availability: Freemium. Not available with UM accounts.

Literature Review Tools

Lit review tools do these things!

Elicit streamlines lit review for scientific research. 

  • Article Search
  • Extract data
  • Cross-paper concept search
  • Summarize abstracts/papers (free/paid accounts)
  • Chat (interrogate) abstracts/papers (free/paid accounts)
  • Data Classification Level 1: Public information only

Availability: Free and paid versions are available. Not available with UM accounts.

Research Rabbit finds similar and related papers and publications based on examples of work you seed it with. 

  • Both text and graphics interfaces allow users to explore:
    • Related work
    • Other work by the same authors
    • Linked Content
  • Undergraduates may need some orientation to it based on feedback from MU professors.
  • Data Classification Level 1: Public information only

Availability: Free, account required. Not available with UM accounts.

Semantic Scholar bills itself as a search and discovery tool for scientific literature that indexes more than 200 million academic papers from more than 500 academic journals, university presses, and scholarly societies.  It was developed by the non-profit Allen Institute for AI.

  • Article search (including research feeds that automatically update saved searches)
  • Article summaries
  • Citation generation
  • Extract high-value citations
  • Data Classification Level 1: Public information only

Availability: Free, account required. Not available with UM accounts.

UM System Resources