Using AI in Research

A prompt is what you ask the AI to produce for you. The better the prompt, the better to response. Some tips when writing your prompt. You can think of it as CONTEXT:

• Provide the AI with some Context. What role do you want the AI to play? What goal do you want to achieve from the prompt?
• Outline Key Points: List the essential messages or information that must be included.
• Inform about the Nuance in tone and style (e.g., conversational, professional, write like a human, expertise, humorous) you want to response.
• Provide context about your Target audience, industry, or specific challenges.
• Provide Examples or references to guide the AI's output.
• Define any eXpectations or constraints like word count, format, or content limitations.
• Be Thorough and have the AI ask you questions for clarity to make a better response.

There are many models for prompting. The video below does not follow the CONTEXT model but summarizes many of the same ideas.

Be sure to check your syllabus or ask your professor before using AI for an assignment.

 AI can be useful in research for the following actions:

• Brainstorming research ideas or titles
  Get started on a project by using AI to help you define topics or develop ideas that you can build upon further.
   
• Creating summaries
  If you have a lot of information to work through, AI can quickly analyze information to create a summary for understanding. When doing this, remember that AI can be bad with numbers and citations. You may also need to consider intellectual property and copyright prior to uploading.
   
• Copyediting and translating
  While using AI for writing can create plagiarism concerns, using it for copyediting can help you find common grammar concerns and improve your writing.
   
• Producing images
  If you have an upcoming presentation, AI can help you make more interesting visuals without worrying as much about copyright restrictions.

 Be cautious in using AI for the following actions:

• Finding recent information
  Since AI is built off past data, if you need information based on the present, the tool will not have the information or contents that you're looking to find or develop.
   
• Evaluating data or bias
  These tools are not good at performing complex mathematics and they have been known at times to exhibit discriminating or bias behavior.
   
• Writing content
  Beyond the concerns of bias and citations, there can sometimes be concerns for plagiarism or copyright violations using AI to write your research.