Using AI Assistants for Academic Writing

AI continues to creep into academic research, and with it the ever-present threat of plagiarism. Following last week's newsletter on ChatGPT, we talk through the state of AI writing assistants.

With the recent growth of accessible and effective AI-powered assistants, the way we approach writing is fundamentally changing. While these tools can help improve productivity, they’re not without risk: plagiarism, in particular, is in the spotlight.

The pace at which the AI transition is occurring is so fast that institutions are still unsure how to handle it. A new arms race is beginning, similar to one between anti-malware software and the ever-evolving viruses they try to detect. AI-generating text tools will inevitably try to out-pace the AI-detecting tools designed for them. Take DetectGPT, which aims to discern if text was generated using GPT-2 from services such as ChatGPT. However, these tools can easily make mistakes.

But ChatGPT is just one of many tools when it comes to AI-powered assistants. Dozens of assistants are already on the market. Although the majority are focused on marketing or SEO writing, some are specifically geared towards academic and technical writing.

So far, there’s a clear distinction between using these tools to assist in writing versus using ChatGPT to generate and submit text as your own. Here, we breakdown the AI-powered writing assistants most appropriate for scientific and technical writing. Each one has plagiarism-checking functionality designed to help the writer avoid plagiarising from external sources.

At their core, AI writing assistants are meant to support writing — leaving you in charge. Try to remain mindful when using these tools, and make sure you’re confident that it’s you who’s driving the writing process, not the assistant!

1. Trinka AI is a custom-built tool designed for academic and technical writing. It automatically checks for thousands of common grammar mistakes and provides numerous writing suggestions and enhancements, ranging from inconsistent word usage to improving tone and style. It has a “readiness check” for the journal you’re submitting to, to make sure you’re compliant with their standards. It’s also specifically designed for academic writers inexperienced in English – nice. Trinka has a free version for up to 10,000 words/month, or paid for USD$6 a month.

2. Jasper AI is one of the highest ranked AI writing assistants out there with over 80,000 users. Jasper is like the Swiss Army Knife of AI-writing assistants, with a huge variety of tools and use cases. It can both summarise given text and transform brief ideas into finished text. Although its a more complex tool, it also comes with a large community of users and support. It’s clearly meant for a slightly different audience from Trinka, with its plans start at USD$29/month.

3. Grammarly is one of the most well-known writing assistants out there with over 30 million users. Grammarly flags issues in a given text, helping with grammar, spelling, style, and so on. Grammarly has an “Academic” option, so that text is corrected with that particular goal in mind. It even can help provide citations automatically. Grammarly doesn’t generate text like ChatGPT, but it does provide AI-driven recommendations and alterations. Paid plans start at USD$12/month.

We’re curious to hear what you think about AI-writing assistants and how they fit into your research arsenal, as well as how they can affect global research culture. Join the conversation by commenting below or tweeting at us @LitmapsApp.

Resources

Sci Journal Jasper AI Review

Trinka AI versus Grammarly

How We Use AI to Enhance Your Writing | Grammarly Spotlight

Grammarly’s Research Paper Writing Guide

Top AI conference bans use of ChatGPT and AI language tools to write academic papers

DetectGPT

Vicuna - Open Source ChatBot using Meta’s AI, LLaMA

Meet Vicuna: The Latest Meta’s Llama Model that Matches ChatGPT Performance