How I use artificial intelligence

AI is a search engine. It’s not a writer.

I began experimenting with AI when ChatGPT was released in November 2022. Since then, I’ve invested in (and cancelled) the paid version of Perplexity.ai and ChatGPT. I also use Otter.ai to conduct interviews and generate transcripts for them (when information is not particularly sensitive and with permission).

Despite ongoing experimentation with AI, I’ve never been able to yield more than two or three consecutive sentences that meet my standards—but I still use AI as a search engine that I verify.

Because despite my concerns about the environmental impact of AI, platforms such as Elicit and SciSpace have helped me sift through massive amounts of academic literature to find what I need for my research.

So, although I see some potential for AI as a search engine—if LLMs can stop monopolizing information long enough to actually cite an adequate number of sources—I don’t use it for content creation.

I like writing and editing—the whole process, from end to end, using the brain I’ve always relied on.

I know how to use it, I don’t find it difficult, but I’m just not particularly enamoured by it as a piece of technology for “bouncing ideas off of” or “kickstarting the research process.” I’d much rather, well, read.