AI-Tools
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 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.
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.
Access: no registration necessary, free of charge
Functions: Search engine, clusters, graphical results lists, metadata analysis on the basis of PubMed or BASE
Access: free basic version
Functions: dialogue-oriented search engine, chatbot, multilingual, references
Access: no registration necessary, free basic version
Functions: search engine, suitable for finding scientific papers
Data: Semantic Scholar Corpus
Access: Login necessary, free basic version
Functions: Suggests relevant papers in response to a question, summarises up to five articles, integration of Zotero possible
Access: free basic version with limited functionality
Functions: Enter a research question (assistant) or keyword, title or DOI, creates suggestions of scientific papers, generates summaries
Access: no registration necessary, free of charge
Functions: 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.
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 a.d. 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.
Access: registration necessary, free basic version
Functions: Chatbot that uses a large language model to access information in order to answer questions, generate texts and summarise content. Suitable for research, structuring and text creation. No reliable source information, problem of false information (so-called “hallucinating”).
Access: no registration necessary, free basic version, ad-free
Functions: Translation tool (32 languages), correction of spelling and grammatical errors, writing assistant that improves the readability and comprehensibility of texts, selection of different writing styles possible
Access: registration necessary, free basic version
Functions: Literature search and management, writing and editing support, readability check, summarises text excerpts
