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Generative AI for Research

Introduction

To access AI tools provided by CU, go to the AI Tools page.

When using AI for academic work: 

  1. Consult with instructors about their AI policies for each class; policies will vary widely.
  2. Consider data security in your AI use: make sure you are not putting private data into AI tools unless they are approved by the campus.
  3. Critically evaluate AI outputs: check AI outputs to make sure they reflect your intentions.

For CU Policies, Tools, and AI Initiatives, please visit the Artificial Intelligence at CU Boulder page.

Tools

Below is a list of selected tools for research article discovery, summary, and visualization. Each tool has different strengths and capabilities.

For more information:

In 2023, the chatbot landscape changed forever. Chatbots such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Anthropic's Claude, and Google’s Gemini (formerly known as Bard) ignited an era of conversational marvels. These generative AI models are powered by large-scale language models that promise to automate tasks previously reserved for human creativity - writing, graph creation, data analysis, and more.

How ChatGPT Works Chatbots vs. Search Engines | What is ChatGPT Good for | Prompt ChatGPT Effectively

 

How ChatGPT Works

ChatGPT is a chatbot that generates human-like responses to text-based conversations using a large language model based on the GPT (Generative Pre-training Transformer) architecture. The language model is trained on vast amounts of internet text, learns to predict the next word in a sentence based on probability, from which it generates human-like responses.

 

Chatbots vs. Search Engines

It's important to realize that AI chatbots such as ChatGPT operate in a very different way than the search engines and retrieval systems we use to find resources (such as library catalogs, database search functions, or Google Scholar). Search engines help users find information that already exists in documents and publications by recognizing words or phrases in search terms, finding existing resources that match those terms, and applying sorting algorithms to determine the most relevant results to your search. Chatbots, whether connected to the web or not, do not perform match searches on existing text; they are not designed to find existing text. Instead, they create new conversation-like text in response to the prompts you entered. They work by predicting the next word in a given text based on patterns learned from large amounts of training data. However, generative AI technology seems destined to be integrated into search engines and retrieval systems very soon.

 

What is ChatGPT Good For

ChatGPT has a diverse array of promising applications to support your study and research. The following examples demonstrate use cases where ChatGPT can be used as an effective tool. Yet, keep in mind that there are many more additional instances to explore depending on your familiarity and understanding of how ChatGPT works.

  • Writing Assistance: ChatGPT can provide feedback on your work and help you revise your writing. You may ask ChatGPT to improve clarity, adjust work count, or adapt content for a different audience.
  • Brainstorming: ChatGPT can brainstorm ideas, topics, research questions, examples, arguments, or relevant keywords for searching in scholarly databases.
  • Translating: You may ask ChatGPT to translate texts to different languages.
  • Language tutor: You can let ChatGPT be your language tutor and hone your language skills by asking it to explain words, phrases or provide examples of usage, explaining concepts for deeper understanding.

Once you have a general understanding of how ChatGPT operates, you will realize its potential for accomplishing a variety of tasks. It is beneficial to learn from the suggestions and experiences of others, for example, the 25 ways for students to use ChatGPT 

25 ways for students to use ChatGPT

Nevertheless, it is crucial to recognize that ChatGPT has its limitations and that there are questions about how to use it properly to maximize the tool's potential It is recommended that you look at the use cases critically, and carefully tailor its use to your specific needs, as well as consider strategies for getting the best out of ChatGPT by effectively prompting it.

 

Prompt ChatGPT Effectively

Crafting an appropriate prompt is essential for harnessing ChatGPT’s capabilities and tailoring its responses to specific needs. There are strategies and tactics for getting better results from chatbots like ChatGPT. 

  • Write clear instructions: provide context of your request; tell the model who you are and what you want to do for which audiences;
  • Provide simple requests: break complex tasks into simpler subtasks; use separators to represent different parts of the inputs; offer examples 
  • Make it "conversational": examine the output each time and modify your request accordingly

AI Prompt Engineering

YouTube videos that demonstrate prompting strategies:

OpenAI Developer Platform provides a list of prompt examples for a variety of topics, such as grammar correction, keyword extract, python bug fix, translation, and more.

Sources