Using AI Tools in the Research Process
AI tools can assist with various tasks within the research process, from brainstorming topics and generating keywords, to assisting with literature searching, including literature reviews, summarizing sources or text/data analysis, and more. Alongside the new possibilities of these AI-based tools, there are a good number of things to be careful about as you assess if and when you want to use them.
*Be sure to check with your instructor before using AI tools for any course assignments, and cite any content produced.
*Be aware of the copyright restrictions of any content you upload to an AI tool.
*Evaluate! Evaluate! Evaluate! just as you would when using any resource
One of the challenges with generative AI is that many companies and products do not clearly specify what text, data, images etc. these tools use to generate their responses. ChatGPT, for example, is "trained" on a body of text which allows it to generate text in response to a prompt. Some partial lists of the training dataset exist, and ChatGPT will also provide a partial list when queried. While some AI tools do not provide traceable references for the sources that they use to produce their responses, others, like Perplexity, for example, do.
Much of the data that is used to "train" AI is harvested from the Internet, using tools that search engines also deploy. This October 2023 conversation in Scientific American adds some clarity to this topic, as well as raising questions about personal data and privacy. These questions also raise concerns about bias, racism, sexism and other isms replicated and exacerbated by AI tools. See the AI Ethical Issues page on this guide to explore these concerns more.
It's all about the prompts!
Using AI tools effectively requires that the user know the right questions to ask, and how to phrase them for the best results. Vague or generic questions generate vague or generic results. (In other words, garbage in, garbage out!)
To get better results from AI tools and chat-boxes, include these components in your prompt:
Who am I?
What's the context?
What's my goal?
What do I want the AI to do?
Refer to "How to Craft Prompts?", an excellent resource from Georgetown University's Library!
Use your evaluation skills!
If you cannot take AI-cited sources at face value and you (or the AI's programmers) cannot determine where the information is sourced from, how are you going to assess the validity of what AI is telling you? The most effective evaluative technique to use with AI is lateral reading. To briefly review, Lateral reading is done when you apply fact-checking techniques and consulting other sources to evaluate. In this case, leave the AI output consult other sources against what the AI has provided based on the prompt. In other words, move laterally away from the AI information to other sources rather than just proceeding “vertically” down the page based on the AI prompt alone.
Encouraging tips and reminders:
*Always remember that generative AI tools are not search engines--they simply use large amounts of data to generate responses constructed to "make sense" according to common cognitive paradigms.
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