Generative AI: An Introduction

There are many generative AI applications and tools available; more appear almost daily.  The following two resources can provide directories of popular tools.

Generative AI Product Tracker - produced by Ithaka S+R, this resource lists generative AI applications that are commonly used or marketed towards higher education. 

Artificial Intelligence Applications for Social Science Research - developed by researchers at the MSU Social Science Research Center, this downloadable resource provides details on over 250 AI applications. 

Microsoft Copilot Chat is an AI-powered tool that helps users harness the power of generative AI in a safe environment.  Mississippi State University provides access to Microsoft Copilot Chat through a commercial data protection agreement.  This means Microsoft does not claim ownership of the prompts you submit or the outputs you receive from Copilot; nor does the model retain your prompts or output for future LLM training.

Copilot Chat is available to the MSU community via any web browser and through the mobile Android or IOS app.

To access Copilot Chat via a web browser:

• Go to https://copilot.microsoft.com/
• Log in with your official university email address (netid@msstate.edu)
• If you are signed in, you will see your email address and profile picture (if you have one on file with the university) in the top right corner of the screen.
• Note that your account has 30 available responses per chat topic.  To refresh and expand your available responses, just start a new topic.

Questions regarding Microsoft Copilot access should be directed to the Mississippi State University Information Technology Services. Additional information is available for MSU users in the ITS Knowledge Base entry here. 

The following list references some of the more popular gen AI tools used in higher education.  Inclusion in this list does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation of one application over another.  All of these applications change often, including fee structures and user agreements. Users are encouraged to fully explore the functionality, limitations, and concerns about any tool prior to usage.

• ChatGPT - Generative AI application created by Open Ai.  Free and paid options.
• Claude AI - Generative AI application created Anthropic.  Free and paid options.
• Gemini (Google) - Generative AI application created by Google.  Free and paid options. 
• Semantic Scholar - a free, AI-powered engine for academic literature, developed by the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence.

The following list of generative AI tools assists with various aspects of the literature review process.  This list includes tools often used in higher education but inclusion does not imply an endorsement or recommendation of any particular application.  Users are encouraged to carefully evaluate each option for functionality and license/user agreements prior to usage. Note that some applications do not work well with all disciplines. 

• Research Rabbit - A literature mapping tool.  The application integrates with Zotero and works mostly with journal articles. Free option.
• Elicit - An AI tool that uses "seed" articles to mine for keywords and subject headings. Designed by Ought, this tool interacts with Semantic Scholar to extract research and provides summaries of papers, data, and information. Fee and paid options. 
• Perplexity - AI powered search engine that uses natural language processing to provide answers to queries. Users can upload their own articles and date to generate output. Free and paid options. 
• Grammarly - Writing application that utilizes AI to review spelling, grammar, punctuation, and provide editorial assistance. Free and paid options.