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Northwestern IT facilitates access to OpenAI services (such as the GPT 3.5 and GPT 4 models) via Microsoft Azure’s OpenAI Service. This document provides background on Northwestern’s guidance around using generative AI services, including data security requirements, and instructions for requesting access.
Guidance on the Use of University Data with Generative AI
Northwestern guidance for using generative AI services can be found here: https://www.it.northwestern.edu/about/policies/guidance-on-the-use-of-generative-ai.html.
In short, University faculty, staff, students, and affiliates should not enter institutional data into any generative AI tools unless they have been validated by the University for appropriate use and have explicit permission of the data provider.
Before entering any institutional data into a generative AI tool, users should consult the university’s data classification policy and determine the classification level of the data they are working with. Data classified higher than Level 1 must not be used in generative AI applications without appropriate security controls and review by the Northwestern IT Information Security Office.
Data security is a shared responsibility among Northwestern IT, Microsoft, and the user. Before entering any data into Azure OpenAI, read https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/legal/cognitive-services/openai/data-privacy to understand how OpenAI stores and processes data as well as your own responsibilities.
Note for Feinberg faculty, staff, and students: Contact the FSM IT department directly for guidance on appropriate use of data before entering it into a generative AI application.
Requesting Access to Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service
Northwestern does not offer a shared or no-cost option to access Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service. Any faculty, staff, or student needing to use Azure OpenAI Service must be granted access to an existing Azure subscription or request a new one.
Use an Existing Azure Subscription
If you have access to an Azure subscription that does not currently have Azure OpenAI Service enabled, you can fill out the “Apply for access” form linked on the Azure OpenAI Service page with the information for your Azure subscription and your Northwestern contact information.
It may take several weeks for your request to be approved by Microsoft.
If you are an Azure subscription owner wishing to grant another user access to your subscription, email servicedesk@northwestern.edu and include your Azure subscription name and the user’s NetID.
Request a New Azure Subscription
To begin the process of requesting a new Azure subscription, fill out the Public Cloud Account Request form linked on the Public Cloud Services page of the IT Service Catalog. Northwestern IT will walk you through the process of estimating your spending and issuing a blanket purchase order in NUFinancials to pay for your usage.
Estimating your usage
Azure OpenAI Service offers Pay-As-You-Go pricing which differs by region, model, and action (usage type; for example, prompting a chat model or generating an image). For GPT 3.5 with 4k context for example, the below guidelines are roughly accurate:
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Sandbox/experimentation (less than 10k prompts/month): $20/month
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Moderate usage (10k – 50k prompts/month): $100/month
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Large scale usage (>50k prompts/month): refer to Azure calculator
When requesting a quote, estimate your monthly usage and multiply that by the number of months remaining in the fiscal year (that is, through August 31st) to estimate your quote amount.
Because the cost to use all Azure services, including OpenAI Service, can vary greatly depending on the usage pattern, it is essential to use the Azure calculator to estimate your cost before requesting a new subscription.
Applying for Access
Once your subscription is available, you can fill out the “Apply for access” form linked on the Azure OpenAI Service page with the information for your Azure subscription and your Northwestern contact information.
It may take several weeks for your request to be approved by Microsoft.
Create an OpenAI Instance
Once approval for your subscription is granted, you will be able to access Azure OpenAI Studio and create a new OpenAI instance in your subscription when prompted. Documentation for the Azure OpenAI Service, including Quickstarts and tutorials, can be found here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/openai/.