University library on AI

The Hague University of Applied Sciences has established policies to use AI tools responsibly. Yet the university does not offer AI tools and no AI tools have been approved for use in teaching or research. We do provide information on the possibilities and point out the pros and cons.

Benefits

By using AI in the right way, research can be accelerated and improved. You can identify trends and theories faster, find relevant literature and organise and sift through large amounts of data. We see that paid versions offer more features than the free ones. For example, these have limits on the number of searches.

Risks

  • The tools are not error-free or free of bias and may give incorrect, incomplete or distorted results.
  • There is uncertainty about the intellectual property of the content. The risk of plagiarism is high with AI.
  • For literature searches, AI searches various data sources, but the scope and quality of the results is difficult to assess. It is therefore best to combine AI tools with reliable library sources such as databases and indexes, like Web of Science.
  • With free AI tools, privacy is not guaranteed. Therefore, do not upload sensitive information from unpublished articles.
  • Human insight remains crucial, especially for contextual understanding and ethical considerations. 

Guidelines for use

If you use AI to generate fragments of your text, then you should cite the AI tools. For proofreading or topic orientation, you don't have to. These guidelines tell you how to quote AI tools correctly. 

Important AI research tools

Scite.ai
Scite.ai assesses the reliability of scientific claims and focuses mainly on social and biomedical sciences. A list of publications shows you which citations support, contradict or are neutral for a statement. You can also create reports and visualisations to analyse citation patterns and identify influential publications.

The tool's coverage is not complete. For example, you only see citations that are in the Scite.ai database. Scite.ai is integrated with Lean Library and can be used with Google Scholar. It also uses open access sources, such as OFS and PubMed. Scite.ai searches publications with DOI, missing some sources and grey literature. Also, the classification of citations is sometimes inaccurate.

Elicit
Elicit is specifically aimed at academic research and helps streamline a study. In a table, a number of articles appear with summaries. You easily add columns to the table, such as methodology and recommendations for future research. Elicit can also identify recurring themes and concepts across multiple papers. The exact list of all data sources used is not publicly available, but Semantic Scholar often appears in the results. Source citations are clearly visible per search query/prompt.

Consensus
Consensus is similar to Elicit. This tool searches for answers in the Semantic Scholar database of more than 200 million scientific articles. You get a list of relevant articles with metadata, abstracts, quality indicators, number of citations and a link to the publication. You can search for concepts, relationships or ask questions. Preferably ask these questions in English for the best results. Disadvantages of this tool are that the sources are unclear. The search is never complete and the results cannot be reproduced, making Consensus less suitable for systematic literature reviews.

Perplexity
Perplexity offers real-time Internet access for queries, analysis, information processing, summaries, ideas and targeted research questions. You can choose from three sources per search: the internet, scientific articles or YouTube. It is not possible to search multiple sources simultaneously. You can choose quick or detailed answers. For scientific literature, Semantic Scholar, PubMed and NIH, among others, are used, but a complete overview of data sources is lacking. The risk of plagiarism is therefore high.

Key GenAI tools

The main general Generative AI (GenAI) tools are: ChatGPT, Copilot and Gemini.
They have chat functionality and use very large language models (Large Language Models, LLMs for short). You use these tools to answer questions and analyse information, provide examples and structures or generate texts, images, tables and programme codes, among other things. Using these tools can lead to increased productivity, ease of use and creativity. The results are not completely reliable, so verification remains necessary. There are free versions, but the paid variants perform significantly better and are recommended for regular use.

We list the main differences of the tools, based on: ChatGPT vs Microsoft Copilot vs Gemini: Which is the best AI chatbot? (ZDnet, 13-8-2024).

ChatGPT from OpenAI
ChatGPT is currently the most advanced AI chatbot, which does not require an account. By default, you use model GPT-3.5 that provides information until September 2021. You also get free access to GPT-4o, where you can view previous conversations, generate images and upload files. This free account does have limitations.
The paid ChatGPT Plus version offers a faster service, higher prompt limit and early access to new features. You can process and generate text, images, sounds and video. Via the browser or plug-ins, this version offers access to more up-to-date information than the free version.
ChatGPT Search is available to users with a ChatGPT Plus subscription via the browser feature. Users can search real-time information from the internet, although there are not the same options for setting specific search criteria as with Google.

Copilot from Microsoft
Copilot is free, accesses the internet and provides links to resources. Copilot can provide more up-to-date information, until December 2023, but provides only five answers per call with a maximum of 4,000 characters per query. The paid version offers faster service, wider limits and various benefits, such as creating your own Copilot GPTs.

Gemini from Google
Gemini provides faster answers than Copilot and the free GPT-3.5 version of ChatGPT, but is not faster than ChatGPT Plus. Gemini does not limit itself to a maximum number of replies.
Apart from the free version, there is also a paid version: Gemini Advanced. You then get access to Gemini for Workspace with apps like Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Slides and Meet. You also get 2 TB of storage, photo editing features, video calling and enhanced appointment scheduling.

More information

The comprehensive LibGuide from the Greeni UAS and the LibGuide (Dutch) from the Hanze UAS on artificial intelligence are a good starting point. Our university library also has a lot of information on (Gen)AI. Search the catalogue using the keyword: kunstmatige intelligentie.
Some current Dutch titles are:

AI-pionier : hoe jij ook begint met generatieve AI (2024) 527.8/BROE 
Beter, leuker, sneller : optimaal ontwikkelen met generatieve AI (2024) 527.8/LAST 
Chatten met Napoleon : werken met generatieve AI in het onderwijs (2024) 527.8/LAST 
Co-intelligentie : slimmer werken met AI (2024) 527.8/MOLL
Zelf aan de slag met AI : praktische gids om generatieve artificiële intelligentie te gebruiken in je dagelijkse werk en leven (2024) 527.8/BENO

The Springer Nature Link (e-books and articles) and O'Reilly (e-books, videos and courses) databases contain in-depth information in English. For example, search for: Generative AI or ChatGPT.