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April 8, 2024

How to Properly Conduct Research with AI: Tools, Process, and Approach

How to Properly Conduct Research with AI: Tools, Process, and Approach

Table of contents

Picture yourself a few years back, struggling to find answers to specific questions in your research. Didn’t you wish for a platform to locate all the answers within seconds? Perhaps a tool that is always there for you to surface a set of information from the sea of data on the internet? Today, that’s not a fantasy anymore—AI makes it possible. 

From scrutinizing the relevant topics to hunting data, tools like ChatGPT, Grammarly, Wordtune, and DALL-E can be your new research best friend. Let’s uncover how researching with AI saves you time and keeps the workflow efficient. 

Answering the Real Question– How Do I Pick the Correct Research Tools?

Do you ever find yourself trying new tools and losing track of time while exploring all their features? That shouldn’t be the case during research.

It’s easy to get carried away while working with AI tools. However, we’re here to guide you on how to do it right. With a proper direction, you’ll know which tool will serve you the best. 

The result?

Refined research that presents you with statistics, relatable examples, peer-reviewed research papers, and holistic information on a topic. Thus saving you lots of time focusing on the compilation of data.

Here are the questions you need to ask while filtering tools: 

  • What is the objective of my research?
  • What stage of research am I currently at?
  • What is my level of expertise in AI tools?
  • Does this tool have functionalities that I currently need?
  • How reliable is this tool?

The right tools make your research process efficient by performing the hefty data collection, analysis, and segregation tasks. Furthermore, you can rest assured of getting precise information. 

Am I Not Good Enough? (Researching on Own vs AI-assisted Research)

Let’s understand the difference AI brings to the research process.

AI Tools– Rescuing You from the Typical Painpoints

There are several obstacles to thorough research, whether it's part of your academic program or profession. Here are the typical challenges and the role of AI in combating them.

1. Literature Review

The research process begins with gathering information. Often, while looking for relevant information, we get juggled between various online sources. As a result, we lose track of time while finding the best case study or understanding the need for our research in a modern scenario. 

Semantic Scholar

Semantic Scholar is a robust AI tool that helps you find relevant literature studies. The machine learning algorithm presents relatable studies from over 200 million academic papers published across diverse domains, such as history, economics, computer science, etc. 

Result?

It saves time and effort by helping you discover, access, and navigate through academic papers on a single platform. Artificial intelligence and natural language processing analyze the paper’s content and rank relevant research.

For example, imagine you’re researching to establish a relationship between artificial intelligence and sustainability. 

a screenshot from Semantic Scholar
Semantic Scholar

As you enter relevant keywords, several published studies options are displayed. You can filter the search based on the year of publication, author, and field of study. The ‘Cite’ feature will cite them in your preferred style. 

Semantic Scholar

2. Rescuing from the Data Overload

Data interpretation is one of the most critical steps in research. It involves extracting meaningful information from the abundance of data available online. To understand this better, let's look at a simple example. 

Suppose you’re researching ‘Fitness.’ You're presented with endless data as you put this keyword in the search engine: physical activity, fitness patterns, physical education, etc. 

A screenshot of a Google SERP representing data overload

Data overload ultimately leads to confusion and drifting away from the topic. This is where advanced tools like ChatGPT and Wordtune come into the picture. Whether gathering supporting information to derive a conclusion or searching for statistics to make the research impactful, AI makes navigation easier.

These have answers to every question. Whether you’re asking for statistical figures or a research process, these intelligent assistants present valuable insights, thus saving your time. 

Wordtune

As you write with Wordtune, it helps by suggesting examples, defining the terms, expanding on your content, and deriving a conclusion. 

A demonstration of Wordtune being used to make a counterargument

ChatGPT

While working with ChatGPT, you can simply ask the AI tool to present information in your preferred format—pointers, paragraphs, one-liners, etc. 

ChatGPT

You can even leverage the power of this tool to brainstorm fresh ideas on the work. 

Bonus read: Wordtune Vs. ChatGPT

3. Accuracy in Writing

You can’t go wrong with factual data in research. While looking for information, we often encounter different sources presenting contrasting facts.

Who to trust in such a scenario?

Consensus

Consensus is an AI tool that presents scientific findings. It extracts published sources, promising that your research features reliable information. 

Consensus

Simply ask your question; this tool will present you with vetted and unbiased information. It also displays the number of research studies that cite the data to guarantee accuracy further. 

4. Structuring the Research

There comes a stage when you have all the information ready. The next step is compiling it into a research paper, but you’re clueless about where to begin and how to structure the research. 

Wordtune 

You can ask tools like Wordtune to do it for you in such cases. To get started, you can give it a prompt for a research outline. It helps you organize the content well and explains each section's purpose.

You can ask tools like Wordtune to do it for you in such cases. To get started, you can give it a prompt for a research outline. It helps you organize the content well and explains each section's purpose.

As you continue writing, you want to ensure high-quality work. Wordtune is a smart AI tool that helps you from the beginning to the end. It gets you started on writing, checks grammar and enables you to refine the content. You can expand on the topic, shorten sentences to minimize complexity, and set a desired tone.

5. Getting the Details

Another critical challenge of the manual research process is getting the significant details. While you might get good information, finding details to cite could be challenging. 

Imagine AI doing it for you—nothing less than a relief! 

Browse AI 

Browse AI offers a pre-built robot that extracts information from research papers and journals published on Google Scholar. You can get the article title, description, link, and author’s details with relevant keywords with a single click. 

Browse AI

Imagine you’re researching sustainable architecture. With the prebuilt robot, you enter keywords and type the number of results you’re aiming to browse through. Within a few seconds, Browse AI presents you with all the relevant information in a sheet format, making it easier to navigate and pick the best results. 

6. Citing Metrics

While working on research, we often fear a source’s credibility, and we’re constantly nudged to cross-check the information with multiple platforms. Don’t worry—we relate to this, too. Your research paper must always comprise real citations and credible sources.

Scite 

Scite is an AI-powered platform that evaluates the reliability of scientific claims and the credibility of citations. It even showcases citation statements and the total number of publications featuring the research. 

Scite

What makes this tool more helpful is the marking of supporting and contrasting statements. Scite evaluates the study and presents the figures supporting the citation statements or presenting a contrasting view. 

Is the Use of AI in Research Ethical?

While seeking help from AI tools, you might wonder if this is ethically right.

It's ethical if your AI tools don’t write the entire research for you while scrolling through Instagram posts.

Work in collaboration with these AI tools to enhance your research. For example, tools like Consensus ensure the accuracy of the mentioned statements. At the same time, tools like Wordtune help you set the entire writing in a preferred style. 

The resilient tools let you communicate ideas and conclusions effectively. From finding relevant sources to evaluating your work, there’s a tool for every task category.

Here are the expert tips on using AI responsibly and ethically:

  • Make sure to work with ethical and reliable AI tools.
  • Never overuse AI in your work. Ultimately, it should be personalized and owned by ‘you.’
  • Always cite sources in your research.
  • Ensure that AI content is proofread and edited to impart a human touch to the writing. 

Leverage the potential of these tools only to keep yourself productive, on the right track, and delivering the best results. 

Key takeaway: Never over-rely on these tools. 

Adding a Creative Touch to Research

Wordtune is one of the most exciting AI tools that helps elevate writing. It aids in refining the writing and adding a creative touch to the research. Here’s how:

Setting a preferred tone

Our research is an extension of our thought process and personality. Thus, it should always sound like ‘you.’ With Wordtune, you can pick your preferred writing style that resonates with your thought process and tonality.

Whether you wish to add a little quirk or keep it all formal, add a unique flair to writing with Wordtune’s rephrasing suggestions and enhancements. 

Keeping your ideas clear

We all need help breaking down complex information into simple words. This is where Wordtune helps. The suggestions to shorten and simplify sentences let you deliver complex ideas in easy-to-understand language.Its rewriting suggestions cut down unnecessary words to focus on the key takeaway and enhance readability. 

Letting you Think Beyond Typical Words

We often use similar wordings while writing (unintentionally), which makes the content sound boring and monotonous. Writing with Wordtune lets you explore a variety of synonyms for a single word and cut the redundancy.

It makes the content engaging, adds depth to the writing, and keeps it fresh from the introduction to the conclusion. Play with phrases, metaphors, and words to give your readers an exciting reading experience.

AI: Proceed with caution

The advancements in tools and technology are meant to enhance your productivity and workflow but take them with a grain of salt. Not every tool will ‘skyrocket your speed’ — some will simply slow you down with fact checking or confirming your resources. Our advice is to thoroughly research the tool you’ll use and continuously audit your results and processes. 

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