DEM’s Generative AI Policies & Tools

There are a number of existing policies that govern what UW–‍Madison employees may and may not do when using generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools and services. These policies safeguard institutional data, which everyone in the university is legally and ethically obligated to protect. All university faculty, staff, students and affiliates must follow these policies. Detailed information on these policies can be found on the Generative AI @ UW–‍Madison website.

Given the work that the Division of Enrollment Management (DEM) partakes in daily, it is important to keep in mind that UW–Madison employees may not enter any sensitive, restricted or otherwise protected data into a generative AI tool or service whose contractual agreement does not sufficiently protect the data, including:

  • FERPA-protected information
  • HEA-protected information
  • Health information
  • Information related to employees and their performance
  • Intellectual property not publicly available
  • Material under confidential review
  • Information subject to export control

More information on the specific data that many DEM team members utilize daily, including which types of data are considered sensitive, restricted or otherwise protected, can be found on the Enrollment Management Data Domain webpage. 

Despite the important restrictions on the use of generative AI, there are times when utilizing these tools and services could benefit the work completed by DEM. To ensure DEM Team Members are leveraging this technology appropriately, we have developed a list of important things to consider prior to use as well as a list of recommended tools. 

Given that AI meeting assistant tools are now available in Zoom and Webex, an AI Meeting Assistant Tool Policy for DEM has also been developed to make it clear which tools may be used and that a responsible party must be identified during virtual or hybrid meetings to utilize these tools.

Updated: 11/25/2024

Responsible AI Usage Policy

DEM believes there are times when utilizing generative AI could benefit our work. As long as all UW–‍Madison policies related to the use of Generative AI are being followed, certain AI tools and services are permitted to be used by DEM team members. Before utilizing a generative AI tool, it is required to consider the following questions:

  • What data will be entered into the tool?
    • Data at UW–‍Madison can be considered public, internal, sensitive, restricted, or protected. 
      • Public data can go into almost any generative AI tool.
    • Internal, sensitive, restricted or otherwise protected data can only be used with AI tools that protect the data from being retained and/or used to train the algorithm.
    • Sensitive, or otherwise restricted data is best protected on UW-owned and managed devices (even if working remotely). If you choose to use a generative AI tool on a personal device rather than your UW-owned or managed device, you should not enter sensitive and/or restricted data.
  • What contractual relationship do we have with the company providing the tool?
    • While a free trial from a product may seem like a cheap way to utilize this type of technology, they often do not protect the data being entered which can then be retained and/or used to train the algorithm. 
    • You must review the contract in place with the company providing the tool to ensure the data being entered is protected or select a tool already recommended by DEM. 
    • If an official contract is not in place, you must review the Customer Agreement, Terms of Use and/or Privacy Policy to determine if the data you plan to enter into the tool is protected. 
    • All technological products being purchased by a DEM team member should go through DEM’s Tech Approval Process, which results in tools being added to an inventory which denotes whether or not the tool has an AI component and if the contract in place protects the data. Please email demtechtools@em.wisc.edu prior to any purchase or renewal of a tech tool until this process goes live. 
  • Can I trust the information being provided by the tool?
    • Generative AI tools are only as intelligent as the algorithm has been taught to be. If bad data were used to train the algorithm, the information being generated may not be factual or be biased, without context or inappropriate. 
    • The seven characteristics of trustworthy AI systems developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) can be utilized to determine if an AI tool is trustworthy.
    • You must always fact check what is generated by an AI tool or service. 
    • If you are using a tool to craft a message, you should also review and revise to ensure the message is appropriate for the audience.  

Completion of DEM’s Digital Tools Canvas Course is required prior to using any internal, sensitive or restricted data in a Generative AI tool or service. 

Violations of this policy would result in a violation of Institutional Data Policy UW-523, which may result in a range of consequences as appropriate, including:

  • Denial, suspension, or revocation of access to institutional data, and/or
  • Disciplinary action including dismissal.

Updated: 12/19/2024

AI Meeting Assistant Tool Policy

There is added sensitivity to the use of AI meeting assistants that record and/or transcribe meetings and may provide summarization document(s) after the meeting has concluded. This policy is meant to provide additional guidance on when such tools may be used by DEM Team Members, beyond the general guidance provided in UW–‍Madison’s Web Conferencing Technology Use policy.

Please note that this policy only applies to AI meeting assistants for Zoom and Webex. AI meeting assistants for Microsoft Teams have not been approved by DoIT or DEM at this time. DEM Team Members should not use any AI meeting assistants while hosting a virtual or hybrid meeting on Microsoft Teams. 

For an AI meeting assistant to be used during a virtual or hybrid meeting in DEM, a meeting host must be formally identified and shared in the meeting invite. The meeting host is responsible for:

  • Determining that no sensitive, restricted or otherwise protected data will be discussed
  • Determining whether the summarization document(s) will be shared and notifying all meeting participants 
  • Reviewing, correcting, and validating the summarization document(s) if they are to be shared
  • Determining where the summarization document(s) will be saved after the meeting, even if it will not be shared
    • Zoom: Meeting summaries are stored in Zoom’s portal and emailed to the host.
    • Webex: Meetings summaries are stored in the Webex cloud and available to the host.
    • With both products, the meeting host is responsible for retaining or destroying summarization document(s) saved locally to their device. Any enterprise-level documents are duplicates and will be deleted according to enterprise retention guidance.
  • Ensuring that the tool will not automatically distribute the summarization document(s) to all meeting participants
  • Not allowing rogue AI meeting assistants or other recordings to take place during the meeting

It is important to note that once a summarization document is shared with another party, even another meeting participant, it is considered a public record and must be saved and retained appropriately.

Updated: 8/20/2024

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  • The meeting host is responsible for whether summarization document(s) will be created and shared. 
  • If someone else turns on the tool, the meeting host can say “I’m responsible for the summarization and notes from this meeting. Could you please turn that bot off and we can discuss this further offline.”

  • If no sensitive, restricted or otherwise protected data will be discussed during the meeting, you may participate in the meeting. If such data will be discussed, you will need to refrain from sharing that information in the meeting.
  • You can let the meeting host or other participants know DEM’s stance by saying “I may not be able to speak as frankly with the AI Meeting Assistant Tool on. Would you consider turning it off?”

  • If no sensitive, restricted or otherwise protected data will be discussed during the meeting, you may participate in the meeting. If such data will be discussed, you will need to determine whether or not the meeting summarization document(s) will be shared with others after the meeting and make them aware of our public record policy. 
  • You can let the meeting host know “Any summarization documents sent from this meeting may become a public record for me.”

DEM’s Recommended AI Tools & Service List 

Generative AI tools can be used for a variety of purposes. DEM has recommended AI tools for some of the most common use cases and then listed out other available tools that are commonly used on-campus. If a DEM Team Member chooses to use a generative AI tool that is not recommended, they should ask themselves the questions in the Responsible AI Usage section of this policy document and ensure that the tool they are selecting is appropriate. 

Updated: 11/25/2024

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  • Productivity & General Use – Tools that can be used to answer specific questions, rethink the way that you consider a topic, generate ideas, rewrite an email, or compare options and select the best based on a prompt 
    • Recommended General Use Tool: Microsoft Copilot
      • UW–Madison has adopted Microsoft Copilot as the campus equitable access tool for question/answer generative AI. 
      • Using Copilot while logged in with your NetID provides important data security and privacy protections.  
      • Despite these protections, never enter sensitive or restricted data into Copilot.
    • Other Available Tools: These tools do not necessarily protect the data that users enter and it is required that you review the Terms of Use and/or Privacy Policy prior to utilizing any of these tools. 

  • Image Generation – Tools that can be used to generate an image based on a prompt or by considering other media content
    • Recommended Image Generation Tool: Adobe Firefly
      • Provides image generation ability. 
      • Using Firefly while logged in to Adobe Creative Suite with your NetID provides important data security and privacy protections. 
    • Other Available Tools: These tools donot necessarily protect the data that users enter and it is required that you review the Terms of Use and/or Privacy Policy prior to utilizing any of these tools. 

  • Meeting Assistants – Tools that record and/or transcribe meetings and may provide summarization document(s) after the meeting
    • Recommended Tools
      • Webex AI Meeting Assistant
      • Zoom AI Meeting Assistant
    • Other Available Tools: These tools donot necessarily protect the data that users enter and it is required that you review the Terms of Use and/or Privacy Policy prior to utilizing any of these tools. 
      • Microsoft Teams Meeting Assistant
      • Otter.ai Meeting Notetaker

  • Computing Services
    • Recommended Tools
      • Amazon Web Services
        • Subscription must be purchased through DoIT in coordination with your department’s Operations Lead. 
      • Microsoft Azure
        • Subscription must be purchased through DoIT in coordination with your department’s Operations Lead.
      • GitHub Copilot

Review “When Prompts are Retained” section of Customer Agreement prior to use.

  • Miscellaneous
    • Big Interview
      • Mock interview tool to improve your interviewing skills.