As a student in today’s rapidly evolving digital era, you’re likely on the lookout for innovative ways to enhance your academic success and productivity. Enter the realm of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools – a transformative force in the educational landscape. This article will introduce you to AI tools specifically designed for students, discussing their functions, benefits, limitations, and their role in transforming education.
These AI tools aren’t just about speeding up your tasks; they’re about tailoring learning to your needs and deepening your understanding of subjects. From improving your writing skills to making research more accessible and changing the note-taking norm, AI tools are a vital part of any student’s toolkit in the digital age.
Looking to enhance research skills? Read our article 11 tips to improve your research skills
What Are AI Tools?
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a branch of computer science that develops systems to do tasks that typically require human intelligence. These systems can understand natural language, recognise images, make decisions, and learn from experience.
AI blends algorithms, data, and computing power to mimic and improve human cognitive functions. AI tools, therefore, are applications using AI to surpass standard software capabilities. They can process and analyse data, learn from it, and make decisions or predictions.
For students, AI tools are incredibly useful for improving academic performance by adapting to your individual learning styles and offering real-time solutions. More than just solving problems, AI tools also help you gain a deeper understanding of the subject matter, ensuring that you don’t just find the correct answers but also grasp underlying concepts. This aspect is crucial for pathfinders seeking insightful knowledge and skills to confidently navigate their future academic and career paths.
How Students Can Use AI For Productivity
As a student, you can harness AI tools to boost your productivity in both academic and non-academic tasks. Tools like Quillbot and Grammarly are there to sharpen your language and grammar, enhancing the quality of your academic writing. When it comes to research, tools like ChatGPT can sort through a vast majority of information for you, while Consensus can gather main points from various sources.
Additionally, you can turn to OtterAI to improve your note-taking. This tool transcribes and organises spoken words into clear, accessible notes. At the same time, Speechify uses AI technology to offer adaptive text-to-speech conversion, enabling you to listen to written content effortlessly. Next, we’ll delve deeper into each of these AI tools, exploring their specific purposes, benefits, limitations, pricing, and general reviews.
Best AI Tools for Writing
Quillbot
Quillbot is an online writing assistant that uses the power of AI to paraphrase sentences and provide synonym suggestions. It’s designed to help you rephrase your sentences and offer synonym suggestions, making it easier to express your ideas uniquely. QuillBot also checks grammar, detects plagiarism, and summarises text, providing a comprehensive set of tools to assist in your writing.
Benefits:
- Multiple Modes: Quillbot provides several writing modes as options with the aim of catering to different needs, ensuring flexibility in usage.
- Extensions: QuillBot offers browser extensions for Chrome, Microsoft Word, and MacOS, allowing students to access its capabilities wherever they write.
Limitations:
- Complex Technical Language: Quillbot may have limited support for complex technical language. Sometimes, its suggestions might not fit into the wider context of the writing piece, so manual checks are advisable to ensure accuracy.
- Premium Features: Only two out of nine modes are available for free, while the remaining seven writing modes are premium features requiring a subscription.
Features:
Quillbot offers both free and premium services tailored to different user needs. The free version allows users to paraphrase up to 150 words at a time and offers two paraphrasing modes along with three synonym settings, varying from less accurate with more changes to more accurate. This version provides basic access to all tools without a monthly subscription.
In contrast, the premium version, available through monthly, semi-annual, or annual payment plans, offers unlimited paraphrasing. It includes seven additional paraphrasing modes and a fourth synonym setting for enhanced word replacement. Premium users also benefit from faster text processing, a unique ‘Freeze Words’ feature that keeps specific words or phrases unchanged, and the ability to view the longest unchanged text section after paraphrasing.
Reviews:
Users have praised QuillBot’s user-friendly interface, making it easy to paraphrase text. However, some features are completely blocked behind the paywall, such as the plagiarism checker, which some are not thrilled about.
Our Tips:
- Check for Accuracy: When using Quillbot’s paraphrasing tool, you should read the suggestions carefully to ensure that they fit the voice, tone and context of the rest of the text.
- Cite Sources Appropriately: Using Quillbot’s paraphrasing tool does not illuminate the need to cite where you found your information.
Grammarly
Grammarly is also an online writing tool, but this tool offers more comprehensive AI-powered assistance for the technical aspects of writing. Grammarly detects and suggests corrections for grammar, spelling, syntax, style and tone errors. Additionally, GrammarlyGo functions as a generative AI writing tool, helping you brainstorm ideas and mimicking your writing style.
Benefits:
- User-Friendly Interface: Grammarly integrates seamlessly into various writing platforms, providing real-time corrections and suggestions as you type in your word processor of choice.
- Comprehensive Free Version: It offers a comprehensive free version with adequate basic features, making it accessible to students.
- Browser Extensions and Desktop App: Grammarly offers browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Microsoft Edge, along with a dedicated desktop app for a seamless writing experience wherever you type.
Limitations:
- Nuanced Mistakes: Grammarly can sometimes miss nuanced spelling or grammar mistakes, so it’s essential to review its suggestions critically.
- Technical Suggestions: In creative writing contexts, Grammarly’s technical suggestions may not align with the creative intent.
- Pricing: While Grammarly’s free features are effective, some find the cost of the premium version relatively high.
Features:
Grammarly offers a range of features across its free and premium versions. The free version provides essential tools like an automated spell-checker, a basic AI-powered grammar checker, a punctuation checker, and a tone-detection report. These features help improve basic writing errors and style.
On the other hand, Grammarly Premium steps up the game by offering advanced writing aids. It includes clarity and conciseness suggestions, vocabulary enhancements, and genre-specific writing style checks. Additionally, it features a plagiarism checker and advanced checks for punctuation, grammar, and sentence structure. Premium users also benefit from personalised writing insights, integration with Microsoft Word and Outlook, access to the Grammarly mobile app, and dedicated premium customer support, making it a comprehensive tool for more refined and professional writing needs.
Reviews:
Users have commended Grammarly for its effectiveness in improving writing quality and its seamless integration with various writing platforms. However, some have critiqued its pricing as slightly expensive.
Our Tips:
- Critically Review: Examine the tone and style suggestions carefully, especially when writing a creative piece. Critically consider whether Grammarly’s suggestions improve or diminish the quality of the original work.
- Learn With Grammarly: Don’t just accept all the suggestions without a second thought. Read the reason why Grammarly is suggesting this correction and learn from your mistake. You shouldn’t make the same spelling or grammar mistakes continuously.
When it comes to AI writing tools, both Quillbot and Grammarly offer valuable assistance; however, they cater to different needs.
QuillBot focuses on enhancing your writing through its paraphrasing and synonym suggestions. This makes it especially beneficial if you’re looking to express your ideas in a different way. While Quillbot does offer grammar and plagiarism checks, it has somewhat limited capabilities when it comes to handling complex technical language.
In contrast, Grammarly focuses primarily on improving grammar, syntax, spelling, style, and tone. It operates in real-time, offering genre-specific suggestions and error corrections. However, it may not be the ideal choice for creative writing due to its technical approach.
In essence, QuillBot excels in paraphrasing and content generation, offering unique ways to rephrase and present ideas. Conversely, Grammarly stands out for its overall writing refinement and accuracy, ensuring that the text is grammatically sound and stylistically polished.
Best AI Tools for Research
Consensus
Consensus is designed to assist students who are gathering research for academic writing or even for personal interest. Using AI, Consensus can sift through over 200 million authentic scientific papers and academic resources to find evidence pertinent to any research topic. All academic sources that Consensus analyses are peer-reviewed, which indicates that they are reliable.
Benefits:
- Fast Research: Consensus can sort through and find research studies much faster than traditional research methods
- Effective Instant Summaries: Consensus uses an AI language model (like GPT-4) to analyse the contents of a scientific study and provide a one or two-sentence summary of the findings.
- Ad-free and Reliable: Consensus does not show any ads with their results, limiting the chance of misleading results.
Limitations:
- Limited Scope: Consensus might not be very helpful if the topic is not well-researched.
- Information Overload: The abundance of information that Consensus provides could be overwhelming for popular and well-researched topics.
- Misleading Summaries: On rare occasions, the summary generated by AI could be misleading.
Features:
Consensus offers both free and premium options to cater to diverse research needs. The free version includes 20 AI credits monthly, GPT-4 powered concise summaries of research papers, insights into scientific consensus through Consensus Meters, and Study Snapshots for quick study details, making it ideal for occasional research users or those new to Consensus AI.
On the other hand, the premium version enhances these features with more in-depth GPT-4 summaries, customisation options for AI outputs, an ad-free experience, advanced Consensus Meters with sophisticated metrics, and priority access to the latest updates and features, offering a more comprehensive research tool for intensive users.
Reviews:
Users appreciate the free version of Consensus for gathering research for essays or other academic purposes. However, some topics may not be as well researched, limiting their availability on the platform.
Our Tips:
- Complement Traditional Research: Use Consensa along with traditional research methods to ensure a more comprehensive and nuanced understanding of the subject matter.
- Manually Check: Do not rely on the AI-generated summary that Consensus suggests, as it might be misleading. Read the paper thoroughly and check that the findings support your research topic.
ChatGPT (OpenAI)
OpenAI’s ChatGPT, part of a suite of AI tools including language models like GPT and image generation models like DALL-E, focuses on ethical and safe generative AI development. ChatGPT is a particularly useful AI tool for brainstorming, idea generation, simplifying complex concepts, and enhancing problem-solving.
Benefits:
- Enhances Critical Thinking: ChatGPT, especially its language model, aids in developing critical thinking skills.
- Adaptive Learning: This AI tool can adapt to personal learning styles and preferences, promoting personalised learning experiences.
- Questioning Skills: ChatGPT helps students learn to frame questions effectively.
- Independent Learning: It encourages learners to develop independence in their study habits.
Limitations:
- Risk of Inaccuracies: ChatGPT may occasionally generate misleading or completely false information and present it as factually true.
- Input Dependency: Unlike most of the previous tools mentioned, ChatGPT’s responses depend on the quality of the input prompts. The AI’s responses may be less accurate if prompts are vague or contain errors.
- Reduced Traditional Learning: An overreliance on ChatGPT might detract from conventional learning and research methodologies.
Features:
ChatGPT Free and ChatGPT Plus offer distinct features. ChatGPT Free, based on GPT-3.5, is adept at understanding and generating language or code across various topics but struggles with complex queries. Its main limitation is restricted access during peak times. On the other hand, ChatGPT Plus, for a $20 monthly fee, provides several enhancements.
It uses GPT-4, which is capable of processing text and images, understanding dialects, responding to emotions, and offering multilingual support. Plus, users enjoy faster responses, priority access during high demand, and early access to new features. This version includes ChatGPT plugins for specialised knowledge, greater data and project capabilities, and priority customer service. Unique to Plus is the DALL·E 3 image generation feature, the Code Interpreter for file analysis, and the option to create custom GPTs for specific needs.
Reviews:
Users generally praise ChatGPT for its advanced AI capabilities and versatility in problem-solving. However, there are some concerns about the ethical use of generative AI (like ChatGPT) in academic contexts and the potential for misuse.
Our Tips:
- Always Fact Check: Use ChatGPT for initial research and ideation but always verify information with authoritative sources.
- Keep Your Voice: Utilize ChatGPT to enhance your personal voice in writing, ensuring your work remains unique and authentic.
Best AI Tools for Note-Taking
Speechify
Speechify is an AI tool designed to transform written text into spoken words. This technology is particularly beneficial for students who prefer auditory learning, allowing them to digest lecture notes, texts, or research materials effectively. Speechify can convert text from images, documents, and websites into audio files, making the content accessible on any device.
Benefits:
- Human-like Voices: Speechify’s AI-powered system generates natural-sounding voices that mimic human speech patterns, making them easier to digest than monotone robot-like voices.
- Multitasking: Speechify enables students to listen to extracts from their textbook, assigned reading or notes while engaging in other activities, thus improving multitasking.
- Multi-lingual Support: Speechify supports over 30 languages and accents, making it easier for students from around the world to comprehend the text.
Limitations:
- Non-English Voice Quality: The non-English voice-to-text could be lower quality than the English, sounding more robotic.
- Inaccurate Tone: The quality of voices in languages other than English may not be as refined, often sounding robotic.
Features:
Speechify’s free version offers basic text-to-speech features with ten standard reading voices, allowing listening at speeds up to 1x. It’s designed for straightforward listening anywhere without advanced functionalities.
In contrast, the premium subscription provides over 30 high-quality, natural reading voices, including celebrity voices, and supports over 20 languages with instant translation into 60+ languages. It includes advanced features like no speed limit (up to 900 WPM), OCR technology for text extraction, advanced skipping, importing, note-taking, offline listening, and priority support. Additionally, it allows access across all devices and includes a selection of audiobooks on iOS.
Reviews:
Speechify is praised for enhancing accessibility, especially for students with disabilities. Its text-to-speech conversion is highly valued for supporting various learning needs. However, the high cost of its premium features is a common criticism, potentially limiting its wider adoption.
Our Tips:
- Contextual Understanding: Don’t rely on the audio content to get a complete understanding of the text. Read the text thoroughly to catch the nuances that Speechify might have missed.
- Customisation: Experiment with different voices, tones, and speeds to find your most comfortable listening experience. The right voice setting can significantly enhance comprehension and retention.
OtterAI
OtterAI is an AI tool that offers real-time speech-to-text transcription. Students can use OtterAI to transcribe lectures and study sessions in real-time, allowing them to focus on understanding the material rather than taking extensive notes. OtterAI also makes it easy for students to search through and review transcriptions of previous classes for revision.
Benefits:
- Effective Note Taking: OtterAI ensures that students will take effective notes every time. Students can listen to the lecture and comprehend the lesson while the AI tool transcribes everything the instructor says.
- Collaboration: OtterAI also allows for collaborative note-taking, allowing students to share notes with their classmates.
Limitations:
- Variable Accuracy: The accuracy of the transcribed text can be impacted by various circumstances, such as the noise level in the room and the speed at which the speaker is talking.
- Lacking Nuances: OtterAI might not fully capture the speech nuances of the speaker, like their tone or emphasis.
- Requires Internet Connection: A real-time transcription using OtterAI requires a stable internet connection, which some institutions might not be able to offer students.
Features:
OtterAI offers subscription tiers tailored for diverse users, including a Free plan and a Pro plan. The Free plan, at no cost, provides 300 minutes of audio recording and transcription monthly with a 30-minute limit per conversation, alongside features like two-factor authentication, limited audio file uploads, and Conversation History credits.
On the other hand, the Pro plan builds upon the Free plan. It expands the transcription limit to 1,200 minutes per month with a 90-minute maximum per conversation. Users can upload and transcribe up to ten audio or video files monthly. Additional benefits include full access to the transcription assistant for platforms like Teams, Zoom, and Meet, along with features like bulk export, custom vocabulary, and priority email support.
Reviews:
OtterAI is appreciated for its ease of use and convenience in note-taking. Users like how it streamlines transcribing lectures and meetings. However, concerns about its accuracy, especially in identifying different speakers, are notable drawbacks highlighted by users.
Our Tips:
- Optimal Environment: When planning to use OtterAI, try to sit close to the speaker and in an area that will not get a lot of noise pollution. This will be the optimal environment for OtterAI to get the best transcription.
- Hybrid Approach: Do not simply sit back and expect OtterAI to capture every nuance of the speaker. Write down any important phrases that are emphasised and take short notes when appropriate. This can be compared to OtterAI’s transcription to gain a more holistic understanding of the lecture or discussion.
Final Thoughts
Artificial Intelligence has revolutionised the educational sphere, offering you diverse tools that enhance your writing, research, and note-taking as students, thus personalising your learning experience while increasing productivity. These AI tools not only help you achieve academic success but also encourage you to integrate technology into your educational journey, preparing you for a future where technology and intellect will inevitably merge.
Want to learn more about AI applications and techniques? Discover our Artificial Intelligence summer school to support your journey in this innovative field.
FAQs
How can AI be used to help students?
AI is a powerful ally in boosting your productivity. It automates routine tasks, solves problems quickly, and offers personalised learning support. This means you can grasp complex topics more easily, leading to a better understanding and improved academic performance.
What is the best free AI tool for students?
ChatGPT stands out as a notable free AI tool for students, offering diverse functionalities like brainstorming, simplifying complex topics, and aiding in research and writing tasks. Its interactive and adaptive format makes it ideal for enhancing learning and understanding.
Can AI help with exams?
Yes, AI tools such as ChatGPT, Speechify, and Grammarly can help you with exam preparation. ChatGPT can generate practice questions based on your subject matter, Speechify can assist you with auditory learning of materials, and Grammarly can improve your writing skills, enhancing understanding and study efficiency.
