Starting today, July 15, 2026, you can use Purple, UW’s generative AI tool designed to help you learn, create, and explore new ideas.
Purple is the University of Washington’s institutionally supported AI tool for the UW community. It gives you access to advanced AI capabilities in a secure, University-managed environment that supports learning, creativity, research, and exploration while meeting institutional privacy, security, and data protection standards.
Unlike public tools, Purple gives you a secure way to use powerful AI technology that aligns with the University’s commitment to advancing responsible innovation, providing equitable access, and helping students prepare for a world where artificial intelligence is becoming an increasingly important part of everyday work and academic life.
* Follow your instructor’s AI use policies. Unauthorized use may be considered a violation of the Student Conduct Code, WAC 478-121.
What Purple Can Help With
Think of Purple as an assistant that can help you explore ideas, better understand complex information, and develop skills that will matter in the future workforce.
Good uses include:
- Brainstorming ideas for assignments and projects
- Organizing study materials and notes
- Generating practice questions while preparing for exams
- Understanding difficult course concepts
- Creating study guides
- Helping with personal administrative tasks
What Purple Should Not Be Used For
While AI is powerful, it is not perfect. AI tools can sometimes provide inaccurate information, misunderstand context, or generate responses that sound confident even when they are wrong. Purple should not be treated as:
- A replacement for your instructors, teaching assistants, or other academic support resources
- A substitute for academic advising or official University guidance
- A mental health, financial, or medical professional or service
- A replacement for critical thinking, learning, or developing your own understanding of course material
- A tool to complete assignments in ways that violate course expectations or academic integrity policies
- A resource for fact checking
For more information on what Purple can do, what it cannot do, and how to use it responsibly, refer to Capabilities and Limitations.
Your Conversations Are Yours
Purple is designed with built-in privacy protections to help keep your conversations secure. In addition:
- Data entered into Purple is not used to train public AI models
- You can manage and delete your own chat history
- Inactive chats are automatically removed after 180 days
- Private conversations are not publicly visible to others
- UW does not monitor your conversations in Purple
For more information, refer to Manage Your Purple Chat History.
Learning to Use AI Responsibly
Using AI well takes practice, good judgment, and critical thinking. The best results come from asking better questions, checking information carefully, and bringing your own knowledge and experience. Learning how to prompt AI and build effective agents is becoming an important part of higher education and the modern workplace. Purple gives you a chance to build these skills in a safe, responsible way, and is designed to support your success at the University and beyond.
Welcome to Purple.
Get Started
To try Purple now, go to purple.uw.edu.
To learn more about the tool, refer to Purple – AI for All. This is your hub for everything Purple, including:
- Newsfeed
- FAQs
- User scenarios/prompting guides
- Training
- Office hours
- UW AI Community