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Artificial Intelligence (AI)

A resource guide on using Artificial Intelligence (AI) critically for literature searching and research.

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AI Tools

Below are a selection of generative AI tools that you may wish to explore. Always refer to your School's guidelines regarding the use of generative AI in your assessments and verify any information you gather through its use.

Note: many tools include free versions with a limited number of AI uses.

Search Engines

Always access and read the original paper provided in your search results.

Elicit - Elicit is a search engine that uses ChatGPT to search across 200 million academic papers indexed in Semantic Scholar. Rather than using keywords to conduct your search, you enter a research question and it will find articles that help to answer your question. Crucially, the search results link to the original paper, making it easier to verify the information provided.

Consensus - Similar to Elicit, Consensus uses AI to find answers in research papers. Enter a research question in the search engine and it will locate papers that answer your question, highlighting key parts of the paper that are relevant to your query.

Chat Tools

Always verify the information provided by chat services and be prepared to challenge responses.

ChatGPT (Open AI) - ChatGPT is a AI language model developed by OpenAI that can engage in natural language conversations and provide information, assistance, and context-based responses. Be aware that ChatGPT has many limitations and you should always challenge the information it provides.

Perplexity - Perplexity is a chat service that operates similar to ChatGPT and enables you to ask questions to gather information. Sources for the information given are often cited (indicated by a small number next to the response). As with ChatGPT, treat the information provided with care, be prepared to challenge the information and always verify answers.

Research Tools

Keenious - Keenious uses AI to scan text and recommend relevant journal articles. Available to UEL staff and students as a Word plugin, Keenious can analyse an entire Word document or particular sections to suggest articles that may be helpful to read and refer to in your work. You can also upload journal articles, enter a URL or input text on the Keenious website.

ResearchRabbit - ResearchRabbit uses AI to scan for relevant research when you add academic papers to your Collection, generating better recommendations the more papers you add. It will also scan for newly published papers based on what you have in your Collection and send you alerts once a week.

Image Generators

Bing Chat - As well as a chat service, Bing Chat can also create images in response to prompts.

Canva - Canva offers a free version and a paid version. It enables you to create images from text, as well as help you to draft copy, content ideas and create presentations. As with many other tools, there is a cap on the amount of times you can make use of AI.

Study Skills

Goblin.Tools - Goblin.Tools is a collection of single task tools that uses AI to help neurodivergent people with tasks they find overwhelming or difficult. Goblin.Tools is completely free and can help you to, for example, plan an assignment.

Humata - Humata enables you to upload journal articles and ask questions about them, helpful if you are wanting to look for specific information from a journal article. It has a free version, but it is limited to 60 journal article pages and 100 questions per month. There are paid versions that enable you to upload more papers and ask more questions.

Tome - Tome enables you to create presentations from a document. You can also use AI to rewrite text, reduce or extending it as well as changing the tone. The free, basic version provides 5000 AI credits if you sign up with an ac.uk email address.