The Best AI Tools for Academic Research
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been a hot topic in recent years and its impact on education has been immense. ChatGPT is an AI-powered language model that is transforming academic research. However, many academics are unsure how to use it to its full potential. In this article, we will explore the best AI tools to power your academic research.
Incremental Prompting
Incremental prompting is a technique used in behavioural therapy and special education. It involves breaking down complex tasks into smaller, more manageable steps, and providing prompts or cues to help the individual complete each one successfully. The prompts then gradually become more complicated. In language models like ChatGPT, it allows for “way more sophisticated answers”. By using this technique, Mushtaq Bilal, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Southern Denmark, was able to get ChatGPT to provide a “brilliant outline” for a journal article using incremental prompting.
Consensus
If ChatGPT and Google Scholar had a child, it would be Consensus. It is an AI-powered search engine that allows users to ask Yes/No questions, to which it provides answers with the consensus of the academic community. Users can also ask Consensus about the relationship between concepts and about something’s cause and effect. For example: Does immigration improve the economy? Consensus would reply to that question by stating that most studies have found that immigration generally improves the economy, while also providing a list of the academic papers it used to arrive at the consensus, and ultimately sharing the summaries of the top articles it analyzed.
Elicit
Elicit is an AI research assistant that uses language models to answer questions. Its knowledge is solely based on research, enabling "intelligent conversations" and brainstorming with a very knowledgeable and verified source. The software can also find relevant papers without perfect keyword matches, summarize them, and extract key information.
Scite
Scite is an AI-powered app that gives users real citations to actually published papers. Upon being asked a question, Scite delivers answers with a detailed list of all the papers cited in the response. It also gives users the exact number of papers that refute or corroborate a claim.
Research Rabbit
Research Rabbit is an AI-powered tool that allows you to add academic papers to "collections". These collections allow the software to learn about the user’s interests, prompting new relevant recommendations. Research Rabbit also allows visualizing the scholarly network of papers and co-authorships in graphs, so that users can follow the work of a single topic or author and dive deeper into their research.
ChatPDF
ChatPDF is an AI-powered app that makes reading and analyzing journal articles easier and faster. Users start by uploading the research paper PDF into the AI software and then start asking it questions. The app then prepares a short summary of the paper and provides the user with examples of questions that it could answer based on the full article.
Conclusion
AI-powered tools have the potential to revolutionize the way academics conduct research. They can democratize education and even give way to more knowledge. However, it is important to understand the limitations of AI models and use them thoughtfully. With the right approach, AI can make academia more efficient, accessible, and democratic.
