Generative AI (GenAI) tools can inspire your research process, but overreliance on GenAI can impede the development of critical thinking skills like analysis, evaluation, synthesis, and argument. As well, extensive use of GenAI in your work can easily result in plagiarism, the inadvertent spread of misinformation, and violations of the first of Pratt’s Academic Integrity Standards: We do our own work.
Below are some examples of generally acceptable use of GenAI within your research projects. When in doubt, check with your professors as to whether or not GenAI-use is acceptable for particular assignments.
Remember! GenAI tools have a growing track record of producing false information. Evaluate every piece of AI-generated information before using it to inform your work.
Like utilizing search engines, library research guides, and Wikipedia pages, AI tools offer a quick way to introduce yourself to a topic. AI-generated topic overviews can be used to understand what a topic is about, compare different perspectives on a topic, and find keywords that can be helpful for searching.
Example Prompt: “Write a three-paragraph overview of contemporary methodologies of sustainability.”
While traditional search technologies primarily utilize keyword matching, AI tools can offer potential pathways for asking questions that allow for context and nuance.
Example Prompt: “What are some of the key differences and similarities between early conceptual art and early performance art?”
AI tools can help analyze fields or disciplines and point you to key texts within particular parameters.
Example Prompt: “Produce a list of the five most influential texts in the field of psychology. Provide a brief rationale for each.”
Not all sources come with abstracts or descriptions. AI tools can analyze a source text and produce a summary so that you can have a better sense of whether or not it will be useful to your research.
Example Prompt: “Read the following text and produce a one-paragraph summary of its key points: …”