IT Support
E-mail: it-hjelp@uis.no
Phone: +47 51 83 30 00 (line open 08.00-15.30, closed between 11.30-12.00)
Service desk location: Kitty Kiellands building, ground floor. Opening hours: 9.00-14.30
Login issues with Microsoft 365 services
We are experiencing authentication problems with Microsoft services. We are working on resolving the issue.
IT Opening Hours in Summertime
During the summer vacation, the IT Servicedesk will have reduced opening hours at the reception in KK-Building.
Opening hours for physical attendance at the counter will be 12:00-14:00 between 15 July and 2 August.
We are available by phone as usual 08:00-15:30 (closed 11:30-12:00) throughout the summer.
Desktop computers in lecture rooms and Zoom will be phased out and deactivated from the start of the semester in autumn 2024.
As announced earlier this year from the IT department, two major changes to our services will be implemented from the start of the autumn semester this year.
Both changes are based on the ongoing restructuring process as cost-saving measures for UiS. This have been worked on thoroughly by the IT department for some time to ensure a most seamless transition and feedback from the organization that have been reported to us have been taken into consideration to the best of our ability in facilitation of these changes.
Stationary computers in lecture rooms and auditoriums are deactivated.
Stationary machines in our lecture rooms and auditoriums will be phased out and machines in the rooms will be deactivated for use at the start of the semester in the autumn of 2024. This is due to the ongoing transition to Windows 11 on all UiS's ICT equipment and today's machines installed in the rooms on campus are outdated and do not support upgrading to a newer version of Windows. It is also the trend in the sector and the market in general that desktop computers for joint login are being phased out in favor of using one's own personal laptop.
In this regard, the joint user "FORELESER" will also be deactivated as previously announced.
For presentations and digital content in lectures, you must bring your own laptop and connect to the AV system in our lecture rooms. All rooms will be reviewed by the IT department this summer for testing of connections for laptops, necessary adaptations will be made and further information about this change will be made available physically on the desks in all rooms.
All computers will not be physically removed by the start of the semester but will be deactivated for use.
The PC as a display source option will not be available on the control systems in the rooms when the computers have been deactivated.
For larger auditoriums with 2 viewing surfaces, a technical solution is arranged that enables the connection of 2 laptops or 1 laptop to both viewing surfaces (screen) to be able to use a two-screen solution in cases where this will be needed in lectures. This solution has been tested and works great with all Windows computers delivered through IT but can cause some issues with screen setup on some models from Apple, especially when using Keynote for presentations.
Please note that this change applies to open lecture rooms and auditoriums at UiS, for meeting rooms, IT will contact the departments at UiS throughout the autumn to facilitate corresponding changes in the various meeting rooms on campus.
UiS's subscription to Zoom will be terminated.
As previously announced, we have had a temporary subscription to Zoom at UiS as there were some important aspects missing to be able to phase out Zoom at the transition 2023/2024, more about this can be read here:
Discontinuation of Zoom is postponed until summer 2024 (sharepoint.com)
At the start of the semester this autumn, Zoom will be discontinued as a service at UiS and Microsoft Teams will be our platform for video meetings and digital/hybrid teaching.
All lecture rooms on campus with a solution for digital teaching via Zoom will be reconfigured to "Teams rooms" during the summer.
The functionality in the rooms will be the same as today, but the platform for digital teaching will be Teams and not Zoom. New user manuals for setting up and carrying out digital teaching via Teams are in production and will be ready before the start of the semester through IT's Service Portal.
Teams will also be integrated with Canvas for easy facilitation of digital teaching directly through Canvas, there will also be updated user manuals on how to use Teams in Canvas available in IT's service portal.
For questions or other inquiries about these changes, contact the IT department at it-hjelp@uis.no.
The Microsoft authentication service is to be changed.
The custom UiS login page will be replaced with the standard Microsoft login page
The login page where you select Universitetet i Stavanger or Feide, will be replaced with the default Microsoft login page. Username and password is as before. Feide services are not affected.
Microsoft Copilot available for students at UiS
Copilot is supplemented by artificial intelligence (GPT-4)
The IT department has enabled Microsoft Copilot for all students at UiS, see Signing in to Microsoft Copilot for more information on how to get started.
For questions about login and technical support, the IT department can be contacted on it-hjelp@uis.no
For questions and guidance on using Copilot, more information can be found here: All about the exam
How does Copilot work?
Copilot is a language model that integrates with Microsoft's search engine, Bing. The search engine is supplemented by artificial intelligence (GPT-4) from the company OpenAI, which is the same technology as the chatbot ChatGPT. Copilot uses the information you enter and collates it with information found on the open web. Copilot does not have access to information on your computer, but it may have access to tabs in an open browser or PDF document that you make available.
What should I consider when using Copilot?
When using Copilot, there are several things to consider, including:
- You must be critical of the answers the language model gives you. You should expect the language model to generate text with incorrect information but presented authentically.
- You must assume that the references the language model uses may be incorrect.
- You must do a manual check of the answer the language model gives you, before relaying or using the answer it has given you in another context.
- Remember that you may not get the same answer twice – don't use the language model for tasks that require integrity.
- When using and forwarding responses, text generated by Copilot must be marked with the help of AI.
- Do not use the language model to process personal data about yourself or others.
- Do not use the language model to handle student or staff cases.
Is it safe to use Copilot?
Yes, it is. The IT department has evaluated the service and concluded that the service is safe to use for information classified at internal level (yellow). The solution is not recommended for confidential or strictly confidential information. It is you as a user who must assess for yourself what level of classification the information you enter is at.
Copilot vs. ChatGPT – What's the Difference?
Copilot is connected to the Internet, and thus can provide up-to-date information that regular ChatGPT does not have access to. However, that is not the only difference, and there may be several cases where ChatGPT can perform better, even if it only has information from the Internet until 2021. We're going to look at some of the similarities and differences between the two. Here we only consider those that are freely available to employees and students at UiS, Copilot is available in Enterprise edition on all UiS computers, and ChatGPT is freely available to everyone in the "3.5" edition.
Copilot is based on ChatGPT-4, but is provided by Microsoft, and has some fundamental differences from a standard ChatGPT from OpenAI.
In testing, ChatGPT has proven to be better at creating analytical and detailed answers, while Copilot makes shorter summaries. ChatGPT also accepts longer "conversations" as it is unlimited in the number of questions/answers, while Copilot has a limit on the provider's part of 30 questions per conversation, and 300 conversations per day.
Copilot is also extended with the ability to analyze and generate images, this is only available in the paid edition of ChatGPT (ChatGPT Plus).
Copilot is the best choice if you need up-to-date information, as it has access to the Internet and can generate responses to news and ongoing events. Copilot also generates footnotes that link back to sources, so that you can cite the sources you have used and validate these, ChatGPT does not in a free version. Copilot uses ChatGPT-4, while the free edition of ChatGPT still uses ChatGPT-3.5, so if you want to access the latest release for free, Copilot is the right choice.
Since Copilot also has access to the Internet, it will be able to provide references to sources that contain incorrect information to a slightly greater extent than ChatGPT, but since you also get source references, this can be checked and verified.
Copilot is free, but you may experience advertising from time to time, which you don't have to do with ChatGPT. To access ChatGPT-4 via OpenAI, you need to subscribe to a personal subscription to "ChatGPT Plus".
Both Copilot and ChatGPT have clear privacy rules, but neither can be used for sensitive data, e.g. as both have functionality that allows data to be manually controlled by the provider. Green data can be used freely in dialogue with chatbots in general, while yellow data and above should be anonymised before use in a chatbot. Copilot as it is installed on UiS machines is set up so that data does not leave the UiS domain at Microsoft, and can thus be considered somewhat safer, but none of them are currently approved for use with sensitive data.
Helpful links:
Microsoft Copilot vs ChatGPT; which one is better for students?