AI tools for research

Research Rabbit

Searching either the Semantic Scholar or the PubMed database, Research Rabbit makes suggestions based on the sources that you place into a collection. Mapping connections between the papers you select, it recommends additional results of similar research carried out in the field, as well as a list of relevant authors. Collections can be shared and items in them annotated.

Litmaps

Litmaps draws on the Semantic Scholar database and open access metadata from Crossref and OpenAlex. The Seed function maps references and citations of a selected article. Discover connects multiple papers and suggests other similar sources. Map/Visualize creates graphs based on publication dates and citation counts. Visualizations can be adjusted using the mouse, exported, or shared. Additional functions are available in the Litmaps Pro plan.

Inciteful

Inciteful searches several databases to map interconnections between selected papers. The Paper Discovery function allows you to create a collection and then suggests similar sources. You can also narrow down your results using filters and keywords (this is a subscription feature in Litmaps). The Literature Connector function links two publications of your choice based on their citations.

ChatGPT

The oldest of the AI chatbots listed in this section. ChatGPT was developed by OpenAI and the basic version has been freely available since autumn 2022. Like other chatbots, it engages in a conversation with a user on a wide range of topics. By default, ChatGPT uses the less advanced GPT-3.5 language model and lacks access to the internet, generating text based solely on its own dataset and the questions asked.

* However, some elements of the subscription version have been available since May 2024.

ChatGPT Plus

In addition to GPT-3.5, two other language models are currently available, GPT-4 (since March 2023) and GPT-4o (since May 2024). Both can be used, among others, as part of the Plus subscription package ($20/month), which also enables internet searches. At the same time, non-paying users currently have limited access to many Plus package features until a threshold of tokens is met.

GPT-4o

The GPT-4o model enables advanced multimodal communication within ChatGPT that includes text, speech, and video. Additionally, it enables online searches, uploading files and images, and access to other tools based on GPT language models. Users can also create their own specialized chatbot trained on selected data. The tool is integrated with some Microsoft and Google applications

Tools integrated with ChatGPT

Among the additional features included in the ChatGPT Plus package (with limited availability for the free ChatGPT version), users gain access to a wide range of other tools based on GPT language models, from those specifically geared towards research (e.g., SciSpace or Scholar GPT) to those used to create images such as DALL-E 3.

Microsoft Copilot

Previously Bing Chat, this Microsoft product functions as a Bing search assistant. Built on OpenAI's GPT-4 language model, it generates text based on its search of the internet, referring to the sources it finds. You can choose between Creative, Balanced, and Precise modes, the last being best suited to information searches. A limited number of turns per conversation and chats is allowed per day.

Gemini

Previously Bard, this Google product that uses its own language model, PaLM 2, made fully available in the summer 2023. It searches the internet but does not always reference its sources. Bard is integrated with other Google products, allowing users to export answers and save them as a document on Google Drive or to email them as text from a Gmail account.

Perplexity AI

This chatbot answers your prompts by searching the internet and generating text with references to the sources. It also suggests further questions that you might want to ask. The Copilot function, using the GPT-4 large language model from OpenAI, allows access to more precise answers, but its use for free is limited. A mobile app is available.

Claude

AI chatbot developed by Anthropic. Its biggest strength is its ability to quickly process and synthesize information (including documents you have uploaded). It does not refer directly to the sources and its knowledge is limited to its training data (and your input). The free version uses the less-advanced Claude 3 Sonnet model and the subscription version uses the more advanced Claude 3Opus.

SciSpace

In addition to summarizing the content of an entire article, SciSpace can also analyze a selected section, paraphrasing it in various ways, and search for additional sources. It draws on freely available metadata and publications available on the internet (open-access publications). This tool also reads files you upload yourself. A browser extension is available. SciSpace can be used for additional purposes (e.g., literature search or AI detection).

Keenious

Keenious offers literature relevant to a text that you have uploaded, searching in the OpenAlex database. It creates a list of sources that you can further filter by date of publication, number of citations, or availability (open access). The tool can be integrated with MS Word as an add-in. You can export a source list into your citation manager. A basic version is available for free; the full version with a subscription plan.

Unriddle

Unriddle summarizes an article and answers your questions. You can upload the text as a file or search for it online by entering its URL. You can also write and save notes. By default, the tool uses the GPT-3.5 and Claude-3-Haiku language models. The subscription Pro version allows access to Unriddle features without any restrictions, while Premium also offers a choice of GPT-4o and Claude-3.5-Sonnet models.

ChatPDF

ChatPDF provides a summary of any text you upload as a pdf file or of an open access paper (via its URL). It answers your questions based on the content and generates additional ones using the GPT-3.5 model. Only three tasks are allowed per day without the ChatPDF Plus subscription plan.

Humata

Humata summarizes any uploaded pdf text file and uses its content to generate answers to your questions as well as offering some of its own. It also highlights the relevant sections of the text and provides page numbers with hyperlinks. Free use is limited to sixty pages.

SciSpace Academic AI Detector

SciSpace detects chatbots primarily built on the GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 language models and the writing assistant Jasper. It also differentiates between scientific and non-scientific text. For each sentence, SciSpace determines whether it has been generated with the use of AI, after which it assigns the whole text a corresponding percentage and provides a brief commentary. A maximum of a 1,000 words can be analyzed per task.

GPTZero

GPTZero has been trained on various types of data to identify the Bard chatbot and tools built on the GPT or LLaMA (Meta) language models. It uses percentage and word commentary to mark the text as AI-generated, written by a human or both. The free version analyzes the maximum of 5,000 characters per task. Up to three pdf files can be uploaded at once. A browser extension is available and, as a subscription feature, a plagiarism detection function.

GPTKit

GPTKit detects text generated by ChatGPT, determining the extent to which it has been written by a human (labeled as "real") or by an AI tool (labeled as "fake"). The percentage is provided on an opposite scale to, for instance, SciSpace or GPTZero. GPTKit allows up to five analyses per minute (with the maximum of 2,048 characters permitted per task) in the free version.

Winston AI

Winston AI can be used to analyze text in English, French and Spanish. It detects the Bard chatbot, tools built on the GPT models and other AI tools. The result is provided in percentage and, as with GPTKit, it is an estimate of authenticity (i.e., human work). The maximum of 2,000 words can be analyzed overall, after which only the paid version is available (offering also the plagiarism detection function).