Generative AI tools for studies and research
There are various tools based on artificial intelligence (AI) that can be useful for students and researchers. For example, there are AI tools that help you find literature, understand texts, write texts, correct grammar, and translate to/from other languages.
Main content
Most people are familiar with AI tools like ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot, with the latter being one of the secure ChatGPT services available to students and staff at UiB. Additionally, there are numerous generative AI tools designed specifically for studies and research. The University does not recommend any specific generative AI tool, but this page provides a collection of examples of various types of AI tools. A few of these are completely free to use, while most offer a limited free version (or trial period) and charge for full functionality.
Before choosing to use AI tools, it is important to be aware of their limitations and consider issues related to copyright, privacy, and data security.
Important guidelines for using generative AI:
- Remember that, as a student or researcher, you are responsible for what you publish.
- Be aware of limitations, including biases and inaccuracies in the tools you use. See also Pitfalls when using generative models.
- Certain types of information, such as data containing personal information or copyrighted material, should never be uploaded to commercial external platforms. See also Legal frameworks.
- Improper use of AI tools may be considered academic misconduct. Read more about Academic integrity and Cheating at UiB.
- Be transparent about how you have used the AI tool. Read more about Citation of generative models.
"All-round" AI tools
"All-round" generative AI tools function as "all-in-one" research assistants that can help you search, read, write, and understand academic literature. You can pose a research question, and these tools will search through literature and formulate an answer to your question. Examples of such tools include Scite, Perplexity, Scispace and Mirrorthink
Note: While these tools provide sources that you can verify yourself, it is often unclear what criteria determine which sources are included or excluded, and the quality of the source material can vary significantly.
Literature search
There are various AI tools that use large language models (LLMs) to identify relevant articles for your topic by searching through articles and citations, extracting key information, and synthesizing it. Examples of such tools:
- Elicit og Consensus: These tools find relevant articles for your topic by searching through articles and citations, extracting, and summarizing important information.
- Keenious: A search tool that helps you find potentially relevant research articles by analyzing your text using AI and presenting search results based on keywords and concepts found in the text.
- Research Rabbit and Connected Papers: Citation-based mapping tools that focus on the relationships between research publications. These tools use visualization maps to help researchers find related articles.
- Additional AI tools for literature search: Litmaps, Open Knowledge maps, Inciteful, Sourcely
- AI tools for screening articles during systematic reviews: Rayyan and ASReview
Note: It is often unclear which literature databases these AI tools have access to, and the criteria for selecting literature are unknown. This can lead to biases and incomplete results.
Reading and writing
There are many different AI tools that can help with reading and understanding uploaded articles (e.g., by providing summaries, translations, or explanations of parts of the text) or assist with writing, rephrasing, and grammar.
Examples of tools for reading and/or writing: Avidnote, Kahubi, Paperpal, Writefull, Paperdigest, Scholarcy, Grammarly
Note: Using generative AI in academic writing can challenge academic integrity and hinder the development of critical thinking. AI-generated texts may also contain biases and errors.
Would you like to learn more about the use of artificial intelligence in academic writing? Read the article: Khalifa, M. & Albadaway (2024). Using artificial intelligence in academic writing and research: An essential productivity tool. Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine Update, 5, 100145. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmpbup.2024.100145
Other AI tools
Listen to academic texts
Hvis du har mange artikler å lese og du lærer bedre ved å lytte til tekst, finnes det KI-verktøy som kan lese opp akademiske tekster for deg.
The tools Audemic and Listening.io use AI to read texts aloud and can be used to listen to scientific articles, highlight important points, and organize and categorize notes. They offer options for different languages, voices, and reading speeds. Another useful tool is Naturalreader, which also is able to read content from websites directly using URLs.
"Chat" with your data
There are AI tools that allow you to ask your data and files questions. These tools can help streamline your workflow by extracting insights or answering queries directly from complex documents and datasets. Examples of such tools:
- Chatpdf and pdfgear: PDF readers integrated with ChatGPT. You can, for instance, ask these tools to summarize the text or answer questions about the content.
- Powerdrill and Quivr: AI tools that enable interaction with your datasets and analysis of data from various sources, including PDFs, Excel, CSV, PPT, and JSON files.
Resources
- Search & Write - AI in education
- PhDonTrack
- Artificial Intelligence Tools for Detection, Research and Writing from Texas Tech University
- Generative AI Product Tracker from Ithaka
