LibGuides: Academic Integrity: Using AI tools for assignments

Can I use AI tools for my assignments?

AI technology is developing all the time and there is now a wealth of choice in AI-assisted tools that can help with assessments.

The short answer to the above question is sometimes, because it depends what you are using the tools for.

You may be required to use AI tools as part of an assignment, but if their use is not specified, in order to decide if you are able to use them, you need to be aware of what is appropriate use, and what the issues might be if you do use them, particularly for generative AI (GenAI) tools.

Quick links

The risks of using AI tools

What is generative AI (GenAI)?

Appropriate and Inappropriate use of AI tools

What AI tools are safe to use?

What is generative AI (GenAI)?

Generative artificial intelligence is a creative tool that will form written or visual content. The content is generated when the user gives the tool written prompts.

Popular GenAI include ChatGPT, Google Bard and Bingchat for written content, and Midjourney and DALL-E for image generation.

Risks of using AI tool for assignments

Appropriate and inappropriate use of AI tools

AI tools that are safe to use for assignments

There are several tools that are great for research projects, including literature and systematic reviews. Below is a summary of what they do and you can find out more by watching the videos on the right-hand side of the page.

ResearchRabbit	Searches for academic literature Learns from your selections to find relevant literature Allows you build research collections Notifies you of recent research on your topic/s Provides interactive visualisations of topics and authors to expand or narrow your research Is collaborative (you can share your collections with others)
Lateral	Searches across multiple documents at once Searches contextually rather than relying on being fed the right keywords Makes suggestions for appropriate content based on selections made by the user Is collaborative (you can share your collections with others)
Elicit	Searches for academic literature Uses semantic search, so will encompass relevant keywords without you having to input them Summarizes research Finds relevant literature through searching for meaning and not just relying on accurate keywords Keeps refining results according to relevance that you determine
Explainpaper	Upload papers with complex terminology or concepts and it will interpret them for you in simple English Ask follow up questions to get further explanations
Consensus	Search engine that ranks academic literature based on relevance, quality and accuracy Gives the consensus of the scientific community about your topic Lists the papers used to provide the consensus and includes links to full text versions
EvidenceHunt	Uses AI to search for clinical evidence Use simple search terms, predefined medical specialties, or use your own custom PubMed query Subscribe to a week e-alert. EvidenceHunt will run your search for you on a weekly basis so you get the most up to date clinical information Extracts summaries and sample sizes

Wintec Te Pukenga's AI guidelines

Check to see where Wintec | Te Pūkenga stands on inappropriate use.

How to reference AI tools

If you appropriately use content created by GenAI, you will need to reference it. Learn how here.

Awesome AI tools for research

ResearchRabbit

Science Grad School Coach. (2022, November 1). How to Create a Literature Review Outline with Research Rabbit || Research Rabbit Tutorial [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2ygJv4lpWo

Lateral

Lateral. (2021, May 28). Welcome to Lateral! [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9J2ZTNEgAg0

Elicit

BU Cares (2023, January 28). How to use AI for research: Elicit.org for writing a literature review [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oy2myE76ZfY&t=2s

Explainpaper

Miller, A. K. (2022, November 16). New AI product demo: ExplainPaper [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHT68uqGAUQ

Consensus

Consensus. (2022, September 7). Consensus - Product Hunt Beta Launch Demo [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_xxFEO8Hws&t=2s