LibrarySkills@UCL: Library skills essentials

Generative AI (GenAI) is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology that automatically generates content, such as text or images, in response to written prompts. It is trained using data from webpages, social media conversations and other online content.

Large Language Models (LLMs) are GenAI systems that generate text by statistically analysing the distribution of words in the data they have ingested and identify and repeat common patterns (for example, which words typically follow which other words).

Generative AI cannot be seen as an original source of information, and the information it generates cannot be replicated or referred back to by others.

(Image generated by Open AI's ChatGPT using Microsoft CoPilot)

GenAI should not be used in isolation as a source of information. You should always verify information from GenAI and use it alongside reliable search tools, such as UCL Explore and library databases. Your subject guide recommends sources of information for your discipline.

GenAI tools have limitations, especially as a source of information, and should be used with caution, but may be useful to aid your search for information in various ways:

• Help to scope and focus your research question, generate and formulate your ideas.
• Get background information to inform your topic or get definitions of unfamiliar terms. Always follow this up by verifying the information from credible sources.
• Generate synonyms, alternative and related terms to help inform your search strategy.
• Get recommendations on databases and other resources to search for information to inform your topic. Note, we recommend referring to your UCL library Subject Guide for recommendations on sources of information.
• Help you structure a search string using Boolean operators and other search syntax.
• Provide summaries of complex information to help you understand a topic. Note that GenAI can misinterpret information so you should always then return to the original source to clarify what the GenAI tool has told you or consult other sources to ensure the information is correct.
• Translate text into your own language. Note that GenAI can make errors in translation, and you should check the permitted use of machine translation tools in the context in which you are using it.

Note: These uses may require you to use specific and considered prompts to achieve effective results.

AI search tools

There are increasing numbers of AI-powered tools designed to help you identify academic research, many of which incorporate GenAI functionality to provide summaries of information or act as a research assistant, and increasingly we will see similar features integrated into established library databases and search tools. Most new or emerging tools are free to use at a basic level but require a subscription for full functionality. These can be useful starting points to scope your search, but do not allow for comprehensive or systematic literature searching. We recommend using these types of tool only to complement your use of reliable search tools, such as UCL Explore and library databases. Examples of these type of tools include Scite, Keenious and Consensus.

Always think critically about your use of these types of tool. While they may increase your productivity and save you time, do they also inhibit your learning and the development of your skills in terms of identifying, understanding and critically analysing the literature? As with all GenAI, the information should be interpreted with caution and you should consider its limitations.

General GenAI tools (LLMs)

If you choose to use a general GenAI tool, we recommend you use Microsoft CoPilot. UCL staff and students can access Microsoft CoPilot, which can be used for both text and image generation. With commercial data protection, this is intended as a more secure alternative than other GenAI services. If you wish to use GenAI, then this is the safest way to do so. 

If you're logged into Microsoft Copilot with your UCL credentials, what goes in – and what comes out – is not saved or shared, and your data is not used to train the models. 

Citation network tools

Other new or emerging AI-powered search tools include citation network tools, which make connections between academic studies but do not utilise GenAI, although may do in the future. Again, these can be useful for starting or expanding your search for literature on your topic, but should not be used as a substitute for established library databases and search tools. Examples include Connected Papers and Research Rabbit.

• GenAI is not an original source of information; it generates information from other, unidentified sources.
• GenAI does not understand the content it generates, which can lead to hallucinations or factual errors, or information that may be biased, offensive or outdated.
• Unless GenAI tools are integrated with an internet search engine (e.g. CoPilot) or incorporate external data sources via a plug-in, GenAI tools do not have access to live data and are dependent on the data on which they were trained.
• GenAI may fabricate quotations and citations.
• Any information you put into freely available Generative AI tools as prompts becomes available to everybody, so you have to be careful not to put in personal or confidential information or protected intellectual property. You are advised to use Microsoft CoPilot through UCL, which does not save your prompts and is much more secure.

If you choose to use GenAI as a source of information, always ensure:

• you are permitted to use GenAI for your assignment or research;
• you understand the limitations and risks of using AI as a source of information;
• your assignment or research remains your own work;
• you critically evaluate output from GenAI and check information against original sources;
• you document your use of GenAI so you can acknowledge your use of AI appropriately.

As Generative AI is evolving rapidly, this guidance will continue to be reviewed and updated.