Answers to the most common questions across all skill levels.

UCSB AI Commons is a secure, enterprise-grade generative AI platform engineered for architectural versatility. Designed to support diverse institutional workflows—ranging from standard conversational interfaces and custom Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) agents to robust API integrations—the platform provides a controlled environment for scalable innovation. Hosted within the UCSB AWS Cloud, AI Commons adheres strictly to NIST SP 800-171 compliance standards, ensuring rigorous data protection and governance across all platform operations.

To start using AI Commons as a new user:
1. Go to app.aicommons.ucsb.edu in a web browser.
2. Click the “Login” button under AI Commons.
3. Sign in with your UCSBnetID and password.
4. Authenticate with DUO.
5. After entering the app.aicommons.ucsb.edu, select a model from the menu below the AI Commons chat box.
6. Type a question or task into the message box and press Send to get your first response.
 

Your conversations on AI Commons are private — no other users can access your prompts or responses, and nothing is retained between chats.
 

Each model has different performance strengths. Choosing the right model helps you solve problems, get answers, and handle tasks more efficiently. For a more detailed model selection guide, please visit the Model page

Tokens are the small pieces of text that an AI chatbot processes when reading your prompt and generating a response. Tokens can be words, parts of words, or punctuation. On average, one token is roughly ¾ of a word. Both input tokens (your prompts) and output tokens (the chatbot’s responses) count toward your monthly token allocation. The model you choose affects how many tokens are consumed. See this page (https://aicommons.ucsb.edu/models) for a description of the available models and their relative costs.

To check your token usage, go to https://app.aicommons.ucsb.edu/, click the hamburger menu icon (≡) in the upper left corner, then click "my menu" (at the bottom) > Token Usage History

AI Commons can be used for everyday work and research tasks such as drafting and editing text, summarizing documents, brainstorming ideas, answering questions, and writing or explaining code. custom bots, file upload, API access upon approved request. The platform is suitable only for non-sensitive institutional data.

The main difference is that AI Commons is provided and managed by UCSB, while public AI tools are outside services with their own terms. In AI Commons:
1. Prompts and outputs are processed within a NIST 800-171 compliant environment on AWS, protected by strict access controls, identity verification and service control policies.
2. Access requires a UCSBnetID to log in, and use of this platform is limited to eligible university users.
3. No personal subscriptions. Each user receives a standard quota of 1 million tokens per month.
4. Users can chat with leading models from multiple providers — currently spanning Anthropic's Claude family (Haiku, Sonnet, and Opus), Meta Llama 4, Amazon Nova, Qwen3, and OpenAI's open-weight GPT-OSS models
 

You can not change a model once you start a conversation.
To use another model in AI Commons:
1. Click 'New Chat' in the left-hand menu.
2. In the new chat window, open the model menu at the bottom left and select the model you want from the list.
3. Send a message — it is answered by the selected model.
 

AI Commons is currently available to students in AI CoP, staff, and faculty with an active university account.
Undergraduate students do not currently have access to AI Commons.