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Healthcare Informatics Library Research Module

Problems with Using AI Chatbots for Research

AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Google Gemini are popular tools. However, they have serious problems when used for academic research:

1.) Hallucinations (False Information) 

  • AI chatbots often give wrong information (when this happens, it is called a "hallucination"). 

  • For example, if you ask a chatbot for academic articles, it may give you articles that do not exist. 

  • These fake citations may look real, and may include:

    • Real author names

    • Real journal names

    • Articles that sound real 

  • Important - hallucinations are not a temporary problem that will be fixed. Research from OpenAI (the company that made ChatGPT) shows that hallucinations will always happen because of how chatbots are trained. You can view that study at this link. 

 

2.) Information Quality Problems

  • Even when chatbots cite real articles, these articles may not be good for your research. 

  • You must always check if the sources are of good quality. 

  • Problems with real resources from AI chatbots: 

    • You don't know what sources the chatbot learned from

    • The information may be old (chatbots have knowledge cutoffs)

    • You don't know how the chatbot chooses sources

    • You don't know if the chatbot uses free sources only or can also get resources from paid databases

 

3.) Problems When Searching 

  • In library databases, you can filter search results with choices such as: 

    • Publication Date 

    • Peer-reviewed or not

  • AI chatbots do not have these filters 

  • Another problem is that if you ask the same question twice, the chatbot gives different answers each time. This makes it hard to find the same information again.

Because of these problems, library databases are more reliable and better for finding scholarly sources.

When AI CAN Be Helpful with Research

AI chatbots are not good for finding academic sources. However, they can help with some early research tasks:

  • Brainstorming ideas and keywords for your research

  • Summarizing difficult articles (only articles you already found and checked in library databases)

  • Explaining new concepts or terms that you don't understand

AI works better when it is built into resources like the library's databases. These AI tools:

  • Are designed for specific research tasks

  • Are more accurate than regular chatbots

  • Have fewer hallucinations (false information)

To learn more, visit the AI Tools in the Library page of the library's AI & Academic Research guide. This page shows you:

  • Which AI tools are available in library databases

  • How to use these tools effectively

Important: Always ask your instructor if you can use AI tools for any research assignments. Each instructor has different rules. If you are not sure, you need to ask! 

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