Top 10 AI tools for research: Choose your AI research assistant

Whether you are a student, entrepreneur, or an employee, there comes a time when you need to conduct research. With the rise of AI, researching has never been easier than it is now.

However it is worth mentioning that almost any chat-based AI model like ChatGPT can be used for research in many ways, and I think most people who use AI tools every day understand that, so I tried to include as few AI chatbots as possible.

Here is the list of all the AI tools that can be used for research of all kinds:

1. Gemini
2. Consensus
3. Scite.AI
4. GPT4All
5. AsReview
6. DeepL
7. Humata
8. Cockatoo
9. Avidnote
10. Research Rabbit

What are AI tools for research?

These AI tools are specialized software applications that utilize artificial intelligence (AI) to assist researchers in various aspects of their work.

How is AI used for research?

Here are some of the ways these AI tools can be used for research:

• Information retrieval: AI tools can help researchers find relevant information from a vast sea of data, such as scientific papers, news articles, and social media posts.
• Data analysis: AI algorithms can analyze large datasets to identify patterns, trends, and anomalies that might be missed by human researchers.
• Data visualization: AI tools can transform complex data into visually appealing charts, graphs, and maps that make it easier to understand and communicate findings.
• Writing and editing: AI tools can help researchers with various aspects of writing, such as generating ideas, structuring arguments, and proofreading content.

1. Gemini

Gemini is an AI chatbot from Google AI that can be used for a variety of research tasks, including finding information, summarizing texts, and generating creative text formats. It can be used for both primary and secondary research and it is great for creating content. It will not write a full article but it is a great AI-powered search engine.

One of the main advantages of using Gemini for research is that it can access and process a vast amount of information from the real world through Google Search. This means that the model can provide summaries and explanations of complex topics that would be difficult or impossible to find in any other way.

Key features:

• Accuracy: Gemini is trained on a massive dataset of text and code, which means that it can generate text that is accurate and reliable also it uses Google to look up answers.
• Relevance: Gemini can be used to find information that is relevant to a specific research topic.
• Creativity: Gemini can be used to generate creative text formats such as code, scripts, musical pieces, email, letters, etc.
• Engagement: Gemini can be used to present information creatively and engagingly.
• Accessibility: Gemini is available for free and can be used from anywhere in the world.

2. Consensus

Consensus is an AI-powered research tool for people who need to find and understand scientific research papers. It is easy to use, accurate, and powerful.

Key features:

• AI Research Analysis: Utilizes artificial intelligence to analyze and extract answers from academic papers.
• Diverse Topics Coverage: Offers information on a wide range of subjects including social policy, medicine, mental health, supplements, economics, and sleep.
• Question-Based Search: Allows users to ask specific questions, including relationships between concepts, yes/no queries, and effects of different factors.
• Summarization of Academic Research: Provides summarized conclusions from research studies.

3. Scite.AI

Scite AI is an innovative platform that helps discover and evaluate scientific articles. Its Smart Citations feature provides context and classification of citations in scientific literature, indicating whether they support or contrast the cited claims.

Key features:

• Smart Citations: Offers detailed insights into how other papers have cited a publication, including the context and whether the citation supports or contradicts the claims made.
• Deep Learning Model: Automatically classifies each citation’s context, indicating the confidence level of the classification.
• Citation Statement Search: Enables searching across metadata relevant publications.
• Custom Dashboards: Allows users to build and manage collections of articles, providing aggregate insights and notifications.
• Reference Check: Helps to evaluate the quality of references used in manuscripts.
• Journal Metrics: Offers insights into publications, top authors, and scite Index rankings.
• Assistant by scite: An AI tool that utilizes Smart Citations for generating content and building reference lists.

4. GPT4All

GPT4All is an open-source ecosystem for training and deploying large language models that can be run locally on consumer-grade hardware. GPT4All is designed to be powerful, customizable and great for conducting research. Overall, it is an offline and secure AI-powered search engine.

Also, a quick note if you are concerned about privacy while using ChatGPT for example I would suggest investing in a private ChatGPT for companies.

Key information:

• Answer questions about anything: You can use any ChatGPT version for your personal use to answer even simple questions.
• Personal writing assistant: Write emails, documents, stories, songs, play based on your previous work.
• Reading documents: Submit your text documents and receive summaries and answers. You can easily find answers in the documents you provide by submitting a folder of documents for GPT4All to extract information from.

5. AsReview

AsReview is a software package designed to make systematic reviews more efficient using active learning techniques. It helps to review large amounts of text quickly and addresses the challenge of time constraints when reading large amounts of literature.

Key features:

• Free and Open Source: The software is available for free and its source code is openly accessible.
• Local or Server Installation: It can be installed either locally on a device or on a server, providing full control over data.
• Active Learning Algorithms: Users can select from various active learning algorithms for their projects.
• Project Management: Enables creation of multiple projects, selection of datasets, and incorporation of prior knowledge.
• Research Infrastructure: Provides an open-source infrastructure for large-scale simulation studies and algorithm validation.
• Extensible: Users can contribute to its development through GitHub.

6. DeepL

DeepL translates texts & full document files instantly. Millions translate with DeepL everyday. It is commonly used for translating web pages, documents, and emails. It can also translate speech.

DeepL also has a great feature called DeepL Write. DeepL Write is a powerful tool that can help you to improve your writing in a variety of ways. It is a valuable resource for anyone who wants to write clear, concise, and effective prose.

Key features:

1. Tailored Translations: Adjust translations to fit specific needs and context, with alternatives for words or phrases.
2. Whole Document Translation: One-click translation of entire documents including PDF, Word, and PowerPoint files while maintaining original formatting.
3. Tone Adjustment: Option to select between formal and informal tone of voice for translations in selected languages.
4. Built-in Dictionary: Instant access to dictionary for insight into specific words in translations, including context, examples, and synonyms.

7. Humata

Humata is an AI tool designed to assist with processing and understanding PDF documents. It offers features like summarizing, comparing documents, and answering questions based on the content of the uploaded files.

Key information:

• Designed to process and summarize long documents, allowing users to ask questions and get summarized answers from any PDF file.
• Claims to be faster and more efficient than manual reading, capable of answering repeated questions and customizing summaries.
• Humata differs from ChatGPT by its ability to read and interpret files, generating answers with citations from the documents.
• Offers a free version for trial

8. Cockatoo

Cockatoo AI is an AI-powered transcription service that automatically generates text from recorded speech. It is a convenient and easy-to-use tool that can be used to transcribe a variety of audio and video files. It is one of the AI-powered tools that not everyone will find a use for but it is a great tool nonetheless.

Key features:

• Highly accurate transcription: Cockatoo AI uses cutting-edge AI to transcribe audio and video files with a high degree of accuracy. It is said to be able to transcribe speech with superhuman accuracy, surpassing human performance.
• Support for multiple languages: Cockatoo AI supports transcription in more than 90 languages, making it a versatile tool for global users.
• Versatile file formats: Cockatoo AI can transcribe a variety of audio and video file formats, including MP3, WAV, MP4, and MOV.
• Quick turnaround: Cockatoo AI can transcribe audio and video files quickly, with one hour of audio typically being transcribed in just 2-3 minutes.
• Seamless export options: Cockatoo AI allows users to export their transcripts in a variety of formats, including SRT, DOCX, any PDF document, and TXT.

9. Avidnote

Avidnote is an AI-powered research writing platform that helps researchers write and organize their research notes easily. It combines all of the different parts of the academic writing process, from finding articles to managing references and annotating research notes.

Key Features:

• AI research paper summary: Avidnote can automatically summarize research papers in a few clicks. This can save researchers a lot of time and effort, as they no longer need to read the entire paper to get the main points.
• Integrated note-taking: Avidnote allows researchers to take notes directly on the research papers they are reading. This makes it easy to keep track of their thoughts and ideas as they are reading.
• Collaborative research: Avidnote can be used by multiple researchers to collaborate on the same project. This can help share ideas, feedback, and research notes.
• AI citation generation: Avidnote can automatically generate citations for research papers in APA, MLA, and Chicago styles. This can save researchers a lot of time and effort, as they no longer need to manually format citations.
• AI writing assistant: Avidnote can provide suggestions for improving the writing style of research papers. This can help researchers to write more clear, concise, and persuasive papers.
• AI plagiarism detection: Avidnote can detect plagiarism in research papers. This can help researchers to avoid plagiarism and maintain the integrity of their work.

10. Research Rabbit

Research Rabbit is an online tool that helps you find references quickly and easily. It is a citation-based literature mapping tool that can be used to plan your essay, minor project, or literature review.

Key features:

• AI for Researchers: Enhances research writing, reading, and data analysis using AI.
• Effective Reading: Capabilities include summarizing, proofreading text, and identifying research gaps.
• Data Analysis: Offers tools to input data and discover correlations and insights, relevant articles.
• Research Methods Support: Includes transcribing interviews and other research methods.
• AI Functionalities: Enables users to upload papers, ask questions, summarize text, get explanations, and proofread using AI.
• Note Saving: Provides an integrated platform to save notes alongside papers.

Final thoughts

There are a lot of AI tools that can help with research out there, from AI language models that can do literature reviews and data extraction to tools that provide style enhancements for your research. You can spend countless hours looking for the right one, but I think that these 10 should do the job.

These AI tools are becoming increasingly popular and can be used for a variety of tasks, including finding information, summarizing texts, and generating creative content. There are many different AI research assistants available, so it is important to choose one that best meets your need.

We have a few other posts about the best AI tools for content creation and the best AI tools for data analysis. I would suggest checking out them as well to increase productivity with AI tools.