AI: Student Guide to ChatGPT, CoPilot and Other AI Resources
Guide content supports the teaching and research goals of multiple departments on campus. Content represents a non-exhaustive selection of essential resources and tools for engaging a wide range of backgrounds and viewpoints
- Home
- Creating Prompts
- Fact-checking is always needed
- AI & Databases
- Is using ChatGPT considered cheating?
- Ethical Considerations
- Citing Generative AI
- Tools by Category
- Different Disciplines
-
FAQs
- How can I protect my privacy while using ChatGPT?
- I can't find the citations that ChatGPT gave me. What should I do?
- How are generative AI models biased, and how can I avoid biased results?
- How can I fact-check the information that ChatGPT and other AI resources give me?
- Which AI tools are the best for searching?
How can I protect my privacy while using ChatGPT?
First, don’t enter any private or confidential information into ChatGPT and similar tools. It’s possible that developers may review your entries to improve the next version of their model.
If you want to make sure your inputs aren't used to improve the model, you can turn off that feature in the settings of ChatGPT.
- Click on your name
- then Settings
- then Data controls
- and turn off the switch called “improve the model for everyone.”
Temporary chat
Another option is to use the feature called “temporary chat.” At the top of the page, click on the menu that says “ChatGPT,” and then click the option that says “temporary chat.” Then your chat won’t appear in your history and ChatGPT won’t save anything from your conversation.
You can do the same in other tools.
- In Perplexity’s settings, the switch is called “AI data retention.”
- In Google’s Gemini, click a button in the lower left called “activity.” At the top of the page that comes up, you can click the menu that says “turn off.”
- In Microsoft Copilot, if you log in with your NetID (not your personal email), you'll be in a version of Copilot that doesn't use your data for training. You can verify it when you see a shield icon in the corner near your name.
- Claude doesn’t use your inputs for training unless you opt in.
- NotebookLM: "We value your privacy and never use your personal data to train NotebookLM."
- Last Updated: Oct 20, 2025 12:15 PM
- URL: https://guides.lib.uiowa.edu/AIStudentGuide
- Print Page