Different Tools for Different Tasks
AI tools exist on a spectrum of usefulness depending on the task at hand and how robust the tool itself actually is. While some databases and websites make claims of AI capabilities, the technology is often absent, overstated, or applied in ways that provide minimal practical benefit. Remember, we as researchers have to evaluate AI tools to determine if they will save time or not for the task we're doing. Below is a list of AI tools designed for academic research tasks specifically, followed by a list of more general use AI for you to keep in mind.
Disclaimer: This is just a small sampling of some prominent AI tools at this time for your exploration and evaluation
"Sharpest tool in the shed" by Lachlan is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
AI Tools
- A free database that uses AI technology to generate interactive maps of related research papers. Users can navigate a literal web of connected sources, authors, and topics to identify useful sources. Tip: Add Research Rabbit to your search strategies for comprehensive research projects like dissertations and literature reviews. Recommended by Fairfield Librarians!
- A searchable database of academic sources that supports natural language searching. While it does not have access to entire bodies of literature on a subject, Consensus can answer questions about the body of research it has access to such as "What is the relationship between Concept A and Concept B according to researchers?". This tool also provides features like the Consensus meter which rates the agreement or disagreement in the body of research with a particular author's claims.
- A free online database of academic papers in the sciences. Many AI-powered research tools rely on this database, though Semantic Scholar's AI features are relatively limited.
- AI algorithms now support the existing features of Google Scholar including but not limited to interpreting your search, ranking results, and making recommendations for other similar sources.
- While ChatGPT can be helpful in certain contexts, Fairfield librarians do not recommend relying on it for research due to concerns about accuracy and reliability. See this guide's Using AI page for details on the relative strengths and weaknesses of ChatGPT.
- An AI Large Language Model (LLM) that specializes in writing tasks and uses a specialized algorithm it claims prioritizes human values and risk reduction. Claude does not use your interactions as future training data unless you opt in.
- An AI-powered internet search engine that provides detailed summaries to your natural language searches. Perplexity synthesizes numerous sources to answer every prompt. Importantly, it cites those sources in its responses and organizes them into a reference list. It also tracks the "steps" taken throughout a single chat session for greater transparency and clarity into how user prompts lead to what results.
- An LLM AI assistant with similar features to ChatGPT and Claude.
