Using ChatGPT in an Academic Context

How to make the best use of your personal AI assistant.

Table of Contents:
1. Introduction
2. Using AI before writing your paper
3. Using AI while writing your paper
4. Using AI after writing your paper
5. Important to Consider
  • Plagiarism check
  • AI check
6. Conclusion

© Daniel Wieser — AI helps before, during, and after writing your paper…

Introduction

The existence of ChatGPT as an AI language model is undeniable, and it is likely that it will continue to be a prevalent tool in various contexts.

However, there is a perception in the academic community that ChatGPT is seen as a crutch for individuals who lack the ability to compose a scholarly paper on their own.

This perspective is narrow-minded as ChatGPT possesses a plethora of capabilities that can aid in the writing process, ultimately resulting in a more polished and sophisticated final product.

Additionally, the utilization of ChatGPT can serve as an educational tool, allowing individuals to expand their knowledge and improve their writing skills.

Instead of viewing ChatGPT as a replacement for one’s own abilities, it should be acknowledged for the valuable asset it can be.

It is essential to adopt a positive mindset and explore the potential benefits that ChatGPT can offer. In this article, I am trying to explore such potential benefits in an academic context.

Before writing your paper

The ability to generate large amounts of text quickly and accurately can be extremely useful for researchers in fields such as natural language processing, computational linguistics, and machine learning.

ChatGPT can be used to generate large amounts of data for training and testing machine learning models, as well as to simulate human-like text production in order to study language and communication. It can also give you great ideas on what to write about, like this:

Give me 10 research questions for my business
informatics bachelor thesis as well as methods.

When to use it

• When you have absolutely no idea what to write about.

Give an outline of a thesis proposal about xyz

When to use it

• This prompt should be used when an individual is seeking guidance or information about how to organize and structure a thesis proposal about a specific topic.
• It can be helpful for students, researchers, and academics who are in the early stages of developing a thesis proposal and are looking for guidance on how to organize their ideas and present them in a clear and concise manner.

While writing your paper

rewrite 

When to use it

• This prompt should be used when an individual wants to improve the clarity, conciseness, or style of a given text, or when they want to make it more engaging or persuasive.
• It can be used to improve the readability of a text, to make it more grammatically correct, to change its tone or style, or to make it more appropriate for a specific audience or purpose.
• When you do not want to cite word-by-word
• Alternatives: paraphrase

summarize

When to use it

• Summarize a specific text to get a better idea of what it is about.
• Quickly grasp the main ideas and key points it covers, without having to read the entire text in detail.
• Present information in a limited space, such as in a report, presentation, or article.
• Share the main points of a text with others, such as in a meeting or discussion.
• Get an overview of a topic or to keep track of key information when studying or conducting research.

write in bullet points

When to use it

• Get a better overview of the text.
• When you want to present information in a clear and concise manner, where the focus is on the main points rather than detailed explanations.
• Useful for listing items, such as steps in a process, features of a product, or key points in an argument.
• Can also help to organize information and make it easier to read and understand.

- continue

When to use it

• Enter a text you have already written and then add “continue”.
• Use it when you are stuck for words.
• Use it when you would like the language model to generate text that builds upon or extends an existing piece of text.
• Using the prompt “continue” allows the language model to understand the context and maintain coherence and consistency in the generated text.

- write more sophistacated and technical for academic paper

When to use it

• Enter a text you have already written and then add the prompt.
• Rewrites the text into something more useful for your academic paper.
• Should be used when you want the language model to generate text that is appropriate for a scholarly or research-based context.
• Create specialized language, technical terms, and jargon specific to the field of study, as well as adhering to a particular citation style and formatting requirements.
• Creates a type of text what is written in a formal and objective tone and should present a balanced and well-supported argument or analysis.

- explain

When to use it

• When you have no idea what this text is about
• Provides a detailed and clear explanation of a particular concept, idea, or topic.
• Provides background information, defining key terms, describing how something works or operates, outlining the main points of an argument, or describing the results of a study or experiment.
• Explanation that is written in a clear and easy-to-understand manner, and should provide sufficient detail for the reader to fully understand the topic being discussed.
• Alternatives: describe

After writing your paper

create a final academic conclusion to this text

When to use it

• Generate a conclusion for an academic paper, research, or scholarly work.
• Should summarize the main points and findings of the text, while providing the final thoughts and insights of the author.
• Give clear and concise summary of the research question and the results achieved.
• Highlights the implications of the research and future directions for further research and will therefore be written in an objective, formal and concise manner.

General

continue

When to use it

• When you want more text, context, etc.
• ChatGPT will continue to outline, write, etc. (whatever you asked it to do)

Important to Consider

Before sending your paper for academic publication, please always consider the following tools:

• Check for plagiarism by Grammarly
• AI content detector / Alternative

Use with caution!

Use the following prompts at your own risk and only use for your inspiration:

Write me a thesis proposal for the following thesis topic: xyz

Write me a thesis for the following thesis topic: xyz

Remember: You do not want to have ChatGPT create your full thesis. You want it as a personal assistance helping you to write your own thesis in your own words.

Conclusion

ChatGPT represents a powerful asset in the realm of language generation, particularly when utilized by individuals with a strong understanding of its capabilities. It can be particularly valuable in an academic setting in a number of ways, including but not limited to:

• Research
• Writing assistance
• Summarization
• Text generation

Its capacity to produce highly sophisticated and nuanced text is unparalleled, making it a valuable tool for a wide range of applications including but not limited to academics.

PS: I used DeepL and ChatGPT to create a more sophisticated introduction. I used the following prompt:

rewrite more sophisticated and elaborate more and more intellectual

Hope this article was helpful!
Have fun and take care.

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