GenAI-powered discovery tools use the power of Large Language Models to find connections between academic articles, which is often described as semantic searching. Many combine these semantic search techniques with lexical search strategies and exploring the citation network. See our section on Citation Network Tools for more information on semantic and lexical searches.
GenAI tools can support your academic work by helping you explore ideas, concepts and keywords, but they work best when guided by your own critical thinking and academic expertise. They are not a substitute for rigorous research. These tools do not always retrieve the most relevant or reliable information and they cannot create the comprehensive, transparent and replicable search strategies required for a systematic review of the literature.
Further limitations of GenAI include concerns over academic integrity, bias, copyright, data privacy, environmental impact and equity. If you choose to use GenAI tools, treat them as supplementary tools not as a replacement for critical thinking or thorough research. Always verify the information they provide using credible academic sources. To evaluate output from an AI tool, please see our page on Critically Evaluating AI and the CRAAP checklist for GenAI.
New research is emerging that suggests using AI tools such as ChatGPT for academic work has a cognitive impact that may lead to a decline in deeper learning and sense of independence (Kosmyna et al., 2025).
If you decide to use GenAI tools, we recommend using it as a starting point to explore concepts, keywords and phrases, which can then be applied in structured search strategies using the library's resources. We suggest using a search tool from our A-Z Databases guide or contacting your Subject Librarian for advice on database searching.
GenAI chat tools such as Chat GPT-4 or GenAI research tools are becoming increasingly popular and have many benefits. They can:
Streamline a search strategy or other academic workflows
Help level the playing field for researchers who are neurodiverse or ESL speakers (English as a Second Language)
Support learning and research by providing a springboard for ideas, generating an overview of a topic or summarising information
Use semantic searching to find information that might be missed with lexical, keyword searches
Consider the following questions to help you reflect on your use of AI tools:
Are the results different depending on whether you are signed in to the tool?
How do your previous chats influence the response?
Are you able to replicate the results?
Is your use of AI helping you to gain or enhance skills or is it stopping you from gaining skills?
Kosmyna, N. et al. (2025) ‘Your Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt when Using an AI Assistant for Essay Writing Task’, arXiv preprint arXiv:2506.08872. Available at: https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2506.08872