Generative AI has already become an important part of learning for most students. The most important of these tools are OpenAI’s GPT-4, Google’s Gemini, and Anthropic’s Claude and facility in their use is going to be just as important in the world of tomorrow as traditional productivity tools such as word processing, presentations, and spreadsheets are today.
Students need to learn how to use these tools as they become widely available in the workplace. Generative AI can be used for tasks such as:
● Generating discussion ideas. Tools such as GPT-4 work very well as a sounding board for ideas and for sifting through suggestions for new topics and for writing.
● Brainstorming and mind-mapping can be carried out using Generative AI.
● Grammar and spelling check, although other tools may work better (see below).
● Research, but care has to be exercised to detect hallucinations. Nevertheless, Gen-AI based research can be a valuable starting point for generating and testing ideas.
● Code generation, and care should be taken, of course, to make sure all such code is reliable, efficient, and bug-free, but such generated code can be of great help in software development.
● Execution plans for complex projects can be generated using some very recent tools and can serve both as first draft and as an interim checklist.
Generative AI has been incorporated in many apps, such as the Microsoft and Google office suites, Adobe Photoshop, and Canva that are very widely used.
There are many other specialised AI-powered tools that students can use to improve their writing, research, and other work. The following is a partial list.
Otter.AI
Used for lecture recording and transcription, the tool is capable of capturing an entire meeting or lecture and transcribe it to a text file. It removes the pressure of taking notes for students allowing them to focus on understanding the material. These transcripts further can be used as study materials.
Grammarly
It is a popular writing assistant powered with AI that can improve the writing by detecting and correcting various aspects like grammar, spelling, punctuation, and style errors. The tool also provides suggestions for clarity making writing concise. It uses a larger vocabulary to help users create copies aligned with the required tone, and targeted audience. Grammarly can also detect plagiarism but cannot paraphrase any eliminating risk of malpractice or cheating.
PaperRater
An AI-driven tool that can help students by proofreading and editing writing. The tool provides feedback on grammar, spelling, style, and readability, helping students improve their writing and produce polished academic work.
Perplexity
It is a search engine that uses AI for research in a conversational interface. The tool uses real time information answering queries for a comprehensive and updated understanding of the topics.
Miro
Miro is an online whiteboarding platform using AI. The tool allows for collaboration making it easy for students to brainstorm, plan and work on projects, presentations, and group assignments remotely.
Scribbr Plagiarism Checker
It is an AI-based plagiarism detection tool that helps students identify the copied content and check their work for authenticity. The tool also helps in proper citation by listing down the original sources of the plagiarised content.
Mendeley
Mendeley is powered with AI to help you organize research papers and do proper citations. It acts as a reference management tool where you can find and organise papers and use the repository for proper citations for any research projects.
Zotero
Zotero is another reference management tool on this list that can help you organise and cite sources for research papers and projects. The tool features an option to store articles, generate bibliographies and collaborate with peers amking it optimal for students working on group projects.
Elicit
Elicit is a research tool where students can ask questions and the tool provides a list of papers and appropriate resources related to the topic in response. The tool also provides summary of the abstract, links PDF versions if available, a summary of the paper produced by generative AI, and links to a citation list.
Consensus
Consensus is a research tool that allows students to ask for evidence on a subject or topic. The AI then responds with a summary of the relevant sections from the most important papers on that topic sharing full citations with links and a one-line descriptions. The platform has been labelled as “rigorous journal” or “highly cited” provide an evaluation of the trustworthiness of the source.
Also Read: 5 AI Powered Tools That Can Help You With Language Learning
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