5 Hottest FREE AI Tools for Research That Are ACTUALLY Useful!

Dr Amina Yonis
5 Sept 202311:22

TLDRDiscover the top 5 AI tools for research that are transforming academia. Unriddle allows you to upload papers and ask questions, providing tailored queries for deeper understanding. Paper Pal enhances writing with language checks, synonyms, and rewrite options. Chat GPT aids in title improvements and creative brainstorming. Elicit offers a comparative analysis of multiple papers, highlighting key aspects and trustworthiness. Lastly, Connected Papers generates a research map, connecting papers and aiding in literature review. These tools are revolutionizing research and writing, making them more accessible and efficient.

Takeaways

  • 🤖 AI tools are becoming increasingly popular in academia for various research-related tasks.
  • 📄 Unriddle is an AI platform that allows users to upload research papers and ask questions to gain a better understanding.
  • 📝 Unriddle tailors questions to the specific research paper, aiding in comprehension and critical analysis.
  • ✍️ Users can take notes and ask AI to summarize or improve writing within Unriddle, promoting active engagement with the material.
  • 📈 Paper Pal is a tool for improving writing, offering language checks, synonym suggestions, and text rewriting options.
  • 🔄 Paper Pal can be accessed both as a web app and as a Word add-in for convenience.
  • 🏷️ Paper Pal provides feedback on word usage in research literature, helping users choose the most appropriate terms.
  • 📝 Chat GPT can be utilized for enhancing titles and generating alternative options for academic papers.
  • 🔎 Elicit is a platform that allows users to upload multiple research papers for comparison and understanding.
  • 📊 Elicit provides summaries, participant information, and trustworthiness assessments of research papers.
  • 🌐 Connected Papers is a tool for visualizing the connections between research papers and identifying related works.
  • 🔑 AI tools should be used ethically in academia, with emphasis on understanding and rewriting in one's own words rather than copying and pasting.

Q & A

  • What is the main focus of the video?

    -The main focus of the video is to introduce and provide tutorials on five hot and free AI tools that are useful for research and academia.

  • What controversy is mentioned about AI academic apps?

    -The controversy mentioned is about the widespread use and the varying opinions on the impact of AI technology in academic applications.

  • How does Unriddle assist researchers?

    -Unriddle allows researchers to upload a research paper and ask questions about it. It then provides tailored questions specific to the paper, helping to clarify concepts and importance within the research context.

  • What is the purpose of the 'Explain this to me like I'm five' feature in Unriddle?

    -The 'Explain this to me like I'm five' feature simplifies complex concepts from the research paper into basic terms, aiding in better understanding for the user.

  • How does Paper Pal help improve writing?

    -Paper Pal assists in improving writing by identifying language issues, suggesting synonyms, rewriting sentences, and trimming text to enhance clarity and conciseness.

  • What is the significance of the word usage percentage provided by Paper Pal?

    -The word usage percentage indicates how frequently a word is used in research and published literature, helping the user choose the most appropriate and widely accepted terms.

  • How can Chat GPT be utilized in academic writing?

    -Chat GPT can be used to improve titles and generate alternative options, aiding in brainstorming and enhancing the effectiveness of the title without direct copying.

  • What does Elicit provide in terms of understanding a research paper?

    -Elicit provides abstract summaries, details about tested interventions, measured outcomes, participant information, and trustworthiness criteria for the research paper, aiding in critical analysis.

  • How does Connected Papers assist in research?

    -Connected Papers generates a research paper map that visually connects the original paper to related papers, arranged by similarity and citing the number of citations and publishing year, which helps in understanding the research landscape and finding related studies.

  • What ethical considerations are mentioned when using AI in academia?

    -The ethical consideration mentioned is that one should not copy and paste AI-generated content directly into their work. Instead, they should use AI to understand concepts better and then write in their own words, ensuring proper citation and originality.

Outlines

00:00

🤖 Introduction to AI Academic Apps

The paragraph introduces the user to the world of AI academic applications, highlighting the current controversy surrounding them. It emphasizes the variety of AI platforms available, such as chatbots and independent apps, that assist in various aspects of the research process, including proofreading, editing, finding research papers, and writing outlines. The speaker shares their experience with five AI platforms they find particularly useful and offers a tutorial on how to use them. The first platform discussed is Unriddle, which allows users to upload research papers and ask questions about the content. The platform generates tailored questions based on the paper, aiding in understanding complex concepts and providing insights into the significance of certain elements within the research. The speaker also mentions the importance of ethical use of AI in academia, emphasizing that AI should be used for understanding and not for copying and pasting content.

05:01

📝 Enhancing Writing with AI Tools

This paragraph delves into the use of AI tools for improving academic writing. The speaker discusses the second platform, Paper Pal, which helps refine writing by identifying language issues, suggesting synonyms, and providing percentage usage in published literature. This assists in selecting the most appropriate words for academic writing. The paragraph also covers the 'Rewrite' feature, which offers alternative ways to express a passage, and the 'Trimming' feature, which condenses text while retaining the original meaning. The speaker then talks about Chat GPT, advising on its ethical use for brainstorming and title improvement rather than for copying content. The paragraph concludes with a brief mention of the 'Illicit' platform, which allows users to upload multiple research papers for comparison, providing abstract summaries and critical analysis tools to assess the trustworthiness of the papers.

10:02

🗺️ Mapping Research Connections with AI

The final paragraph focuses on the last AI platform, Connected Papers, which creates a visual map of research papers and their connections. This tool is beneficial for understanding the relationships between various papers and identifying relevant research that may have been overlooked. The speaker explains that each node on the map represents a related academic paper, arranged according to similarity, with the size indicating the number of citations and the color representing the publishing year. The platform helps in identifying strong connections between similar papers, facilitating comprehensive literature reviews and research analysis. The speaker invites users to share any other AI platforms they might have found useful and offers to create a follow-up video if there is enough interest.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡AI tools

AI tools refer to artificial intelligence applications designed to assist with various tasks in research. In the context of the video, these tools are used for proofreading, editing, finding research papers, and writing outlines, among other functions. They are highlighted as being particularly useful for academic researchers or PhD students, as they streamline the research process and improve efficiency.

💡Academic Twitter

Academic Twitter is a term used to describe a community of scholars, researchers, and academics who use the social media platform Twitter to share and discuss research, ideas, and news related to their fields. In the video, it is mentioned as a place where the controversy surrounding AI academic apps is being discussed, indicating that it is a hub for academic discourse and updates.

💡Proofreading

Proofreading is the process of reviewing written text to detect and correct errors in grammar, spelling, punctuation, and style. In the context of the video, AI tools are used for proofreading to enhance the quality of academic writing and ensure that it meets the standards expected in scholarly communication.

💡Research papers

Research papers are written documents that present original research results, often in the form of essays or articles, and are intended for publication in academic journals or conferences. They are a critical part of the academic research process, as they contribute to the body of knowledge in a given field. In the video, AI tools are discussed as aids in finding and understanding research papers, which is vital for staying current in one's area of study.

💡PhD

A PhD, or Doctor of Philosophy, is the highest academic degree that can be earned in many fields. It involves original research and the production of a thesis, which is a substantial written work that contributes new knowledge to the field. In the video, the speaker suggests that AI tools can be particularly beneficial for those starting a PhD, as they can assist with various aspects of the research process, from finding literature to improving writing quality.

💡Writing outlines

Writing outlines are structured plans that guide the organization and development of a written work, such as a research paper or thesis. They typically include main points, subpoints, and supporting evidence, helping writers to structure their thoughts and arguments coherently. In the video, AI tools are mentioned as being useful for creating outlines, which can aid in the planning and execution of well-organized and effective academic writing.

💡Unriddle

Unriddle is an AI platform mentioned in the video that allows users to upload research papers and ask questions about the content. It provides tailored questions specific to the paper, aiming to help users understand complex concepts and improve their knowledge of the subject matter. This tool is particularly useful for academic researchers or students who are looking to deepen their understanding of a particular topic.

💡Paper Pal

Paper Pal is an AI platform discussed in the video that focuses on improving the quality of academic writing. It offers features such as language issue detection, synonym suggestions, text rewriting, and text trimming. These tools are designed to help researchers and students enhance their writing skills and produce more polished and professional documents.

💡Chat GPT

Chat GPT is an AI chatbot mentioned in the video that can assist with various writing tasks, such as improving titles and generating ideas. It is noted that while Chat GPT can be a useful tool, it should be used responsibly and ethically, ensuring that the output is used for inspiration and not directly copied or pasted into academic work.

💡Illicit

Illicit, in the context of the video, is an AI platform that allows users to upload research papers for a deeper understanding. It provides abstract summaries, information about interventions and outcomes, and helps users assess the trustworthiness of a paper by highlighting factors such as funding and participant counts. This tool is beneficial for conducting critical analysis and comparison of research papers.

💡Connected Papers

Connected Papers is a web-based AI tool that generates a visual map of the connections between research papers. It helps users identify related papers and understand the broader context of their research topic. The tool is particularly useful for literature reviews and staying updated with the latest research in a given field.

Highlights

AI academic apps are currently a hot topic and subject to debate.

AI technology is being used in various platforms for tasks such as proofreading, editing, finding research papers, and writing outlines.

Unriddle is an AI platform that allows users to upload research papers and ask questions to understand the content better.

Unriddle tailors questions to the specific research paper, providing a deeper understanding of the material.

The platform also allows users to write notes and ask AI for summaries or improvements in writing.

Ethical use of AI in academia involves understanding the content and rewriting it in one's own words, not copying and pasting.

Paper Pal is a tool for improving writing by offering language checks, redundancy removal, synonym suggestions, and text rewriting.

Chat GPT can be used to improve titles and generate new title options for research papers.

Elicit is a platform that allows users to upload multiple research papers for comparison, providing abstract summaries and key information.

Elicit helps in assessing the trustworthiness of a research paper by examining various aspects like funding and participant counts.

Connected Papers is a website that generates a research paper map, aiding in understanding connections between papers and finding related research.

The research paper map displays the relationships between papers, their citation counts, and publishing years.

These AI platforms can significantly aid researchers in understanding research papers and improving their writing skills.

The video provides a quick tutorial on how to use these five AI platforms for academic research.

The presenter encourages viewers to share other useful AI platforms in the comments for academic research.

The video offers a comprehensive overview of AI tools that are useful for both understanding research papers and enhancing writing abilities.