Using Atlantis Advisor safely and effectively

Atlantis Advisor is an AI assistant built into Atlantis. It can help you understand timetable data, investigate scheduling questions, and consider possible changes. This guide explains what it does, how to use it well, and what to consider before sharing information or acting on its suggestions.

What Advisor does

Advisor uses a large language model to interpret your question and produce a response. It can also use tools provided by Atlantis to look up information in the current timetable or Covers dataset, search Atlantis guidance, and prepare certain changes for your review.

Depending on the screen and your access, it may receive:

your message and the conversation so far;
information about the current school, dataset, user, and screen;
timetable or Covers information returned by its available tools; and
relevant saved memories about you or your school.

The timetable summary provided at the start of a conversation may be a snapshot. Advisor can use its tools to retrieve current details, but it may still miss context or interpret a result incorrectly. Its answers are generated, not authoritative records or professional advice.

Advisor is designed for timetabling tasks. It is not a general-purpose assistant, and it should not replace your school’s policies, professional judgement, or the checks you would normally make in Atlantis.

Getting useful results

Ask a specific question. Include the relevant class, teacher, room, cycle day, or scheduling goal where appropriate.
State important constraints and context that may not be represented in the dataset. For example, explain a local convention or a requirement that should not be relaxed.
Ask Advisor to show the data or reasoning behind a conclusion, and check important details in the relevant Atlantis screen.
Treat summaries and counts as a starting point. Confirm the underlying records, especially when the result affects people or a large part of the timetable.
If the response is unclear, incorrect, or based on a wrong assumption, correct it and ask again. You can start a new chat when the context has become confusing.
Do not assume Advisor can access every screen, dataset, or type of information. It can only use the capabilities available to it in your current context and permission level.

Reviewing changes

Advisor can prepare certain timetable or Covers changes, such as lesson moves, assignments, daily events, or absences. Preparing a change does not apply it. Atlantis presents a proposal for you to review and either apply or reject.

Before applying a proposal:

Check the proposed before-and-after details, affected records, and any warnings.
Confirm that the change matches your intent and complies with school requirements that Advisor may not know about.
Check for relevant impacts that are not shown, including effects on students, staff, rooms, campuses, accessibility, and other timetable constraints.
Apply the change only if you are authorised and satisfied it is correct. Otherwise, reject it and make the change through your usual process.

An approval is still a human decision. Do not apply a proposal solely because Advisor recommends it.

Responsible and fair use

Use Advisor as decision support, not as a decision-maker. In particular:

Do not use its output as the sole basis for decisions about a student’s education, access, support, placement, or opportunities, or about a staff member’s employment or performance.
Check whether the information is complete and current, and consider who may be affected by a proposed timetable outcome.
Do not infer a person’s ability, needs, behaviour, or suitability from a timetable pattern or from incomplete data.
Use relevant, consistent criteria. Consider whether an apparently neutral scheduling rule could disadvantage a group or an individual, and seek appropriate human review if it might.
Do not ask Advisor to rank, label, or make sensitive judgements about identifiable students or staff.
Do not treat a confident, fluent answer as proof that it is correct, unbiased, or ethically appropriate.

If you identify a possible bias, harmful assumption, or unfair outcome, do not act on it. Verify the underlying data, consider who could be affected, and raise the concern with your school’s appropriate decision-maker.

Advisor processes your message using OpenAI's API. Atlantis sends the service the information needed to respond, which can include the conversation and relevant school, user, timetable, or Covers context retrieved for the request. Do not assume that information entered in the chat stays only on your device or within your school.

Atlantis makes all attempts to avoid sending sensitive or personally identifiable data to OpenAI as part of the request; for example, all records are identified and sent only as codes, and a presentation layer shows additional information after receiving a response from OpenAI. However, information you provide in the prompt will be sent to OpenAI. You should not enter personal or sensitive information unless your school has confirmed that it is necessary and permitted for this use.

Chat sessions are saved so you can return to them. Advisor may automatically extract useful facts from conversations and save them as separate memories to personalise future conversations. Personal memories are associated with your account; school memories may be used in Advisor conversations for that school. You can review and edit memories from the memory control in the Advisor panel, and delete a chat thread from the thread list. Memories and chat history are separate: deleting a thread should not be taken to mean that related saved memories have also been removed.

To protect privacy:

Do not enter passwords, authentication codes, contact details, or information that is not needed for the timetabling question.
Avoid entering identifiable or sensitive student information, health or disability information, family circumstances, or confidential staff matters.
Use codes or aggregate descriptions where possible, and follow your school’s data-classification and handling rules.
Do not include personal information about someone else unless your school has confirmed that it is necessary and permitted for this use.

Access to Advisor is not, by itself, evidence that every person whose information might be discussed has been informed or has given any consent that may be required. Before using Advisor with personal information, your school must determine what notices, permissions, consents, contracts, and safeguards apply. Ask your school’s privacy officer or Atlantis administrator if you are unsure. Do not use Advisor for that information until the question has been resolved.

The precise processing, retention, and transfer arrangements can depend on the service and the agreements in force. For current details, consult your school’s privacy guidance and the Atlantis privacy information supplied for your service. If you cannot find those details, ask your Atlantis administrator before entering personal or sensitive information.

Legal and school obligations

Your responsibilities depend on your role, school, location, and the information involved. Follow your school’s privacy, records-management, security, child-safety, accessibility, and AI-use policies, as well as applicable Australian Commonwealth, state, or territory requirements. Other requirements may apply outside Australia.

This guide is practical product guidance, not legal advice. It does not determine whether a particular use is lawful or whether required consent has been obtained. Refer questions about legal obligations to your school’s privacy or legal contact.

Checking accuracy and reporting concerns

If Advisor gives an incorrect, incomplete, outdated, biased, or unsafe response:

Do not rely on it or apply any related proposal.
Check the relevant records in Atlantis and correct the question or assumptions if you want to try again.
Report the issue to your school’s Atlantis administrator or through your school’s established Atlantis support channel. Include the screen, a short description of what you expected and what happened, and the chat thread or approximate time if useful.
Remove or redact personal information before sharing a report where possible. Do not send sensitive student or staff details through an unapproved channel.

For a privacy, security, safeguarding, or potential harm concern, use your school’s established reporting process promptly. Do not rely on the Advisor chat itself as the reporting channel for an urgent or sensitive concern.

A quick check before you use Advisor

Is this a timetabling task that Advisor can help with?
Can I ask it without including unnecessary personal or sensitive information?
Have I checked my school’s rules for using AI and sharing this information?
Will I verify the answer and independently review any proposed change?
Do I know how to report a mistake or concern through my school?

If you have questions

If you have further questions or concerns not covered by this document, please reach out to the Atlantis team or your school's designated support contact. They can provide guidance on using Advisor safely and effectively within your school's policies and procedures. Advisor can be entirely disabled for your school if necessary, and your school can provide additional training or resources for responsible AI use.