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ENGL5620 Studies in Contemporary African American Literature and Culture

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

AI for Information Management: AI can help organize large volumes of information based on specific parameters like themes, timelines, and sources.

  • 1. Identify what you need to learn. For example, breaking research on cleaning plastics in the ocean. AI can be very effective as a summation and curation tool.

A list of popular AIs.

  • Scispace ai – a very good Ai. You can upload articles from Zotero and ask questions about the articles loaded and also articles found from Scispace ai. You can look at connections and get additional ideas regarding themes. There are different levels of pricing, but you can still use it for free.
  • Scopus.ai – is a generative AI that searches through scholarly material with summaries and future possibilities. It is a great resource and paid for through your tuition.
  • ChatGPT – is a conversational AI model developed by Open AI. It is a chatbot, a generative AI that searches the web for information. It is known for its conversational ability, text generation, and content creation.
  • Recall.ai – provides a universal API for meeting bots to access data from various meeting platforms like Zoom and Microsoft Teams. This costs money.
  • Notion.ai – is a virtual home to organize information. This costs money.
  • Elicit.ai – is an AI powered research assistant, uses language models to search academic papers and summarize key points. The Basic plan is free.
  • Google DeepMind – Gemini, developed by Google DeepMind, excels in research, real-time web access, and complex reasoning tasks.  
  • Roam Research – uses an AI powered noting tool to track and connect ideas. It is not free.

Using AI does not mean you are finished with your work. It means your work is just beginning.

  • Negative cognitive effect from using AI – AI can make it too easy by providing information that is taken at face value. Many students do not verify information by checking sources and information content. It can reduce your critical thinking skills. Using AI to compare and contrast information will stop you from using that muscle, and you can quickly lose that essential skill.
  • In research if you make a claim you need to back it up with evidence and citations. If you are using AI ask it to pull citations. Unfortunately, they are usually wrong. For example, it doesn’t pull the original article, or the year was wrong, or the journal was not where the idea was first introduced. This is why you cannot believe everything you read from AI. A study out of Columbia University tested eight chat bots and they produced the wrong sources 60% of the time. Wrong over half the time.
  • AI can scan large volumes of data and provide a summary within seconds, but AI is not sophisticated enough to differentiate between high-quality sources like reputable journals, and low-quality sources like someone’s opinion on a blog on their website.
  • Avoid hallucinating data by finding high quality content. A Hallucination is when a Large Language Model generates outputs that are factually incorrect, nonsensical, or not grounded in reality. Basically, fabricated information presented as facts.  Always check the source, make sure it is a reputable source such as websites and journals you have heard of. If AI provides statistics make sure you find the original study.
  • Can I train AI? – If you want quality information you need to request quality information. Make prompts clear, specific and contextual. For example, what are three essential skills required in the energy industry? Provide a summary and specific sources. Critical evaluation is important.
  • Structured Workflow: Creating a structured workflow with AI involves identifying learning needs, using AI for summation and curation, organizing and retaining knowledge, and reinforcing learning. An example of a good prompt is, “peer-reviewed research studies on…”
  • Critical Thinking and Bias Awareness: It's important to critically analyze AI-generated content to avoid cognitive offloading (where you delegate your thinking and problem-solving skills) and be aware of potential biases in AI outputs. AI can introduce biases depending on the dataset it’s been trained on. AI driven summaries can accelerate your learning, but critical analysis by you ensures deep retention and application.
  • Personalized Learning: Learn how to use AI to find relevant and personalized learning topics tailored to your needs.
    • Spaced Repetition: AI can schedule reviews to help you retain information.
    • Active Recall: AI can generate interactive quizzes.
  • Enhanced Retention and Recall: Discover methods to use AI for better retention, recall, and application of skills.
  • Maintaining Motivation: Understand how to keep motivation and curiosity alive throughout your learning journey with the help of AI. Remember AI does not have your life experiences or your fire.

References:

Camp, Nathan T., Jason A. Bengtson, and John C. Sandstrom. "The Citation Catastrophe: Propagation of AI-Generated Counterfeit Citations in Scholarship." The Journal of Academic Librarianship, vol. 51, no. 4, 2025, pp. 103065, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0099133325000618, doi:10.1016/j.acalib.2025.103065.

Du, Xing, et al. “Facilitator or Hindrance? The Impact of AI on University Students’ Higher-Order Thinking Skills in Complex Problem Solving.” International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, vol. 22, no. 1, July 2025, pp. 1–26. EBSCOhost, https://doi-org.libproxy.library.unt.edu/10.1186/s41239-025-00534-0.

“Leveraging AI summaries, recommendations, and curation,” taught by Ruth Gotian. LinkedIn Learning, 13 August 2025.