Many students and researchers are already using them – tools with integrated artificial intelligence (AI). What can AI-supported tools achieve, what opportunities do they offer and what are their limitations? The following list is an introductory selection which is not based on any value judgement.
AI Tools for literature searching and mapping
The following is a list of AI tools for literature searching and mapping. They all work a little differently but generally provide an overview of subject areas. However, such tools cannot replace targeted, informed research in library catalogues (OPAC) and specialist databases (DBIS) but can only supplement it.
Provider: Open Knowledge Maps, non-profit organization (Vienna)
Access: no registration necessary, free of charge
Features: Search engine, clusters, graphical results lists, metadata analysis on the basis of PubMed or BASE
Privacy Policy: GDPR-compliant
Provider: Perplexity AI, San Francisco (USA)
Access: free basic version
Features: dialogue-oriented search engine, chatbot, multilingual, references
Privacy Policy: not GDPR-compliant
Provider: Semantic Scholar, Allen Institute for AI, Seattle (USA), non-profit organization
Access: no registration necessary, free basic version
Features: search engine, suitable for finding scientific papers
Privacy Policy: not GDPR-compliant
Provider: Elicit, Oakland (USA)
Data: Semantic Scholar Corpus
Access: Login necessary, free basic version
Features: Suggests relevant papers in response to a question, summarises up to five articles, integration of Zotero possible
Privacy Policy: not GDPR-compliant
Provider: Scite AI, Brooklyn (USA)
Access: free basic version with limited functionality
Features: Enter a research question (assistant) or keyword, title or DOI, creates suggestions of scientific papers, generates summaries
Privacy Policy: not GDPR-compliant
Provider: Inciteful, Nottingham (UK)
Access: no registration necessary, free of charge
Features: Literature and citation search using knowledge graphs, suitable for papers that have a DOI and can be found via OpenAlex, Semantic Scholar, CrossRef or OpenCitations. Graphical representation of thematic networks of related articles and authors. Zotero plugin available.
Privacy Policy: not GDPR-compliant
Provider: Keenious, Startup from Norway
Data source: OpenAlex Corpus
Access: free basic version
Features: You can start by asking a question
Area of focus: Interdisciplinary
Privacy Policy: GDPR-compliant
Provider ORKG Ask, TIB Leibniz-Informationszentrum Technik und Naturwissenschaften Hannover
Data source: CORE Dataset
Access: free of charge
Features: You can start by asking a question
Area of focus: Interdisciplinary
Special Features: Open Source Software
Privacy Policy: GDPR-compliant
AI Tools for academic writing
AI tools can provide valuable support for brainstorming and drafting texts, but they are no substitute for human expertise, critical thinking and judgement. Responsible use therefore requires the content generated by AI to be carefully checked, validated and, if necessary, adapted. Bear in mind that AI tools use your questions and information to train. Therefore, please pay attention to data protection and copyright.
Provider: HAWKI, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
Access: Log in using your IDM ID. A connection to the university network is required.
Features: The FAU chatbot uses various language models: ChatGPT, LLaMA, Mistral, Turing, and others.
Privacy Policy: GDPR-compliant
Provider: DeepL, Cologne, Germany
Access: no registration necessary, free basic version, ad-free
Features: Translation tool (32 languages), correction of spelling and grammar errors, writing assistant that improves the readability and clarity of texts, option to choose from various writing styles
Privacy Policy: Free, web-based version: not GDPR-compliant
AI in Exams and Teaching
AI has the potential to change learning and research in many ways. It is important for students and lecturers to know whether and to what extent they are allowed to use AI. FAU regulates the use of AI in examinations via the guidelines of the examination offices and provides tips for organising teaching with AI.