TRU AI Tools Guidance – TRU horaizon

Purpose

This webpage provides clear, practical guidance for the TRU community on the appropriate use of AI tools.

It is intended to:

Guide safe and responsible use of AI, not to grant approval or authorization.
Avoid endorsing non-approved technologies.
Align with TRU procurement, legal, risk, and privacy (PIA) processes.
Complement institutionally curated learning technologies, including AI enabled tools supported through Learning Technology & Innovation (LT&I).

It does not replace or bypass:

Formal procurement and contracting processes.
Required risk and privacy assessments.
Existing academic, administrative, or IT governance policies.

Core Principle

The risk of AI use is determined by the sensitivity of the data, not by how powerful or popular a tool may be.

Institutional AI Access Model

Copilot-First AI Usage Standard

To ensure secure, compliant, and efficient adoption of artificial intelligence tools, Thompson Rivers University (TRU) follows a Copilot-First AI Usage Standard. This approach prioritizes institutionally approved tools operating within secure enterprise environments before considering external AI platforms.

Learn more about Copilot, approved use cases, and default requirements

Layered AI access model

TRU supports academic success through a layered AI access model, combining institutionally managed tools with carefully assessed external platforms.

Institutional Access

TRU provides secure access to:

Microsoft 365 Copilot

Approved for Public, Internal & Confidential data withing M365 environment.

Library Promoted AI Resources

The TRU Library promotes AI-supported research tools:

EBSCO AI Insights
EBSCO Natural Language Search

These tools support literature discovery and evidence-based academic research.

Writing & Academic Support Tool

Widely used tools:

Grammarly

Requires risk & privacy assessment before broader endorsement. Public or limited Internal data only.

TRU Data Classification

AI usage decisions must be based on TRU’s official Data Classification framework.

Before using any AI tool, users are required to review the TRU Data Classification section of the TRU AI Use and Governance Guidelines, which outlines the definitions and examples used to determine whether information is classified as Public, Internal, or Confidential.

The classification of the data not the tool, determines whether AI use is permitted. If there is uncertainty regarding the classification level, users must consult their supervisor or the appropriate institutional authority before proceeding.

Failure to align AI usage with TRU Data Classification standards may result in privacy, legal, or regulatory risk.

The tools listed below are provided as examples only.

Their inclusion does not imply endorsement, recommendation or approval by TRU.

Except for Microsoft 365 Copilot, these tools must be used with Public data only.

Tool	Data Type	User Type	Example Use Case
Microsoft Copilot	Public, Internal, Confidential (secure M365 only)	Staff & Administration; Faculty; Researchers	Policy drafting, internal reporting, secure documentation, course material development, research drafting
ChatGPT	Public	Students; Faculty; Staff; Researchers	Academic drafting, brainstorming, study support, teaching preparation
Google Gemini	Public only	Students; Faculty	Brainstorming, public content drafting, concept exploration
Perplexity AI	Public only	Students; Faculty; Researchers	Public information search, literature exploration, citation discovery

Tool	Data Type	User Type	Example Use Case
EBSCO AI Insights	Public	Faculty; Researchers; Students (research queries)	Evidence discovery, literature mapping, topic refinement
EBSCO Natural Language Search	Public	Faculty; Researchers; Students	Database searching using natural language, academic source discovery
Scite.ai	Public research queries only	Researchers; Faculty	Citation verification, evidence strength evaluation
Scopus AI	Public exploration only	Researchers; Faculty	Literature review assistance, research trend analysis

Tool	Data Type	User Type	Example Use Case
Grammarly	Public; limited non-sensitive Internal	Students; Faculty; Staff	Grammar correction, writing clarity, style refinement
Quillbot	Public only	Students; Faculty	Paraphrasing, sentence restructuring
Wordtune	Public only	Students; Faculty; Staff	Tone adjustment, writing refinement

Tool	Data Type	User Type	Example Use Case
Read.ai	Public	Faculty; Staff; Students	Meeting transcription, email assistant, summaries
Notion	Public only	Students; Staff	Personal notes, task tracking, public project planning
Otter.ai	Public sessions only	Faculty; Staff; Students	Meeting transcription, lecture capture, interview notes

Tool	Data Type	User Type	Example Use Case
GitHub AI (Coding Support)	Public code; approved Internal development projects	Researchers; Faculty; Students (programming courses)	Code completion, debugging, software prototyping
Julius.ai	Public datasets only	Researchers; Students	Data analysis, visualization, dataset exploration
DALL-E	Public creative assets only	Students; Faculty; Staff	Image generation, academic visuals, presentation graphics

Tool	Data Type	User Type	Example Use Cases
LLAMA4 (Maverick)	Controlled testing environments only	Researchers; Institutional AI Teams	Multimodal experimentation, research prototypes, safeguarded model testing

Tool / Category	Status	Reason
DeepSeek (all apps)	Banned	Severe privacy and security concerns
Deepfake / faceswap tools	Banned	Identity and reputational risk
Any unapproved AI with Confidential data	Not permitted	No contractual or privacy protections

Consideration

Power Automate and Power Apps are approved only when used within TRU’s licensed Microsoft 365 environment and in accordance with TRU Data Classification standards.

Related Policies & Guidance

This Copilot usage guidance aligns with TRU’s broader institutional records and information management framework.

For information on institutional records retention, classification, and management responsibilities, see TRU Records Management Documentation.

Learn More