AI is transforming how people work, study, teach, and research, making it faster to draft, brainstorm, summarize complex material, and organize information. Within the UW community, many of us are already relying on tools like ChatGPT or Copilot for these types of productivity tasks. But as these tools become more integrated in our daily workflow, it’s crucial that we can trust them with our data and our devices. This is where Purple can help by providing a safe, useful, UW-supported AI tool for students, faculty, and staff, within certain limitations.
What Is Purple?
Purple is the University of Washington’s enterprise generative AI tool. It provides a ChatGPT-like interface for students, faculty, and staff to interact with approved AI models in a UW-managed environment. It is a University-supported alternative to publicly available AI tools.
Purple can help with common academic and administrative tasks such as:
- Drafting and editing content
- Summarizing and analyzing information
- Brainstorming ideas or outlines
- Assisting with research and coursework
Why Is UW Offering Purple?
To help our community adopt AI responsibly in the following ways.
Provide a UW-Supported Environment
Public AI tools vary widely in how they handle data (including storage, retention, and model training). Purple provides access to approved generative AI models within UW’s Microsoft Azure environment. You just need to sign in with your UW NetID.
Data entered into Purple stays within UW’s Azure environment and is not used to train public AI models. Purple is designed to meet UW’s security and compliance needs, so you have a more controlled place to use generative AI for university work.
Please keep the following data requirements in mind when using Purple:
- FERPA: You are responsible for handling FERPA-protected data appropriately within the scope of your role. Do not use Purple in any way that violates FERPA.
- HIPAA: Purple is not approved for HIPAA-regulated data, including protected health information (PHI).
- UW Medicine Data: Purple is not approved for UW Medicine Data at this time. UW Medicine continues to evaluate broader use of Purple through limited pilots.
- Other: Purple is not approved for Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), confidential research data, or other sensitive or regulated data.
Purple is a productivity tool that helps with use cases such as course design, instructional support, student learning/studying, and administrative and operational tasks. This support frees up time and energy for deeper thinking, collaboration, and creativity.
No one in the UW community is required to use Purple, but it provides a standardized option for those who choose to use AI in their work.
AI literacy is becoming a core skill across disciplines and roles. Purple provides a place to learn and experiment in a UW-supported setting, with guidance that reflects UW expectations and helps reduce risk to university data.
Not everyone has access to paid AI tools. Purple helps reduce the digital divide by providing the UW community with the same robust generative AI capabilities at no additional cost, creating a more equitable baseline for learning, teaching, research, and work.
Purple goes beyond individual productivity tasks. It also supports custom AI agents that help teams streamline workflows, reduce manual effort, and focus more time on higher-value work, while keeping human judgement at the center of all decisions and outcomes.
Purple can help with many tasks, but it isn’t appropriate for every situation. Outputs may be incorrect, and certain data should not be used with the tool. For specific guidance on what Purple can do, what it cannot do, and how to use it responsibly, refer to Purple: Capabilities, Limitations, and Responsible Use.
Learn More
Purple is not yet available to the UW community and will be rolled out in phases. Follow the latest updates at Purple – AI for All.