AI tools for brainstorming

How to use

Copilot, ChatGPT, and Claude operate based on prompts provided by the user. A well-crafted prompt is likely to yield a better outcome.

When formulating a prompt, consider at least the following:

• You often get best results when writing in English because the training data for the language model is primarily in English.
• Explain the context of your request.
• Make the task clear.
• Provide examples if necessary.
• Ask follow-up questions, one question at a time.
• Ask to explain choices and claims.
• Modify the prompt as needed.

Finally: test or verify the answers yourself from a reliable source.

Use cases

Brainstorming research topics

• Ask for various scientific perspectives on your chosen topic and research questions that go with these perspectives.
• Request suggestions for the theoretical background of your research or ask for a list of suitable research methods.
• Request suggestions for hypotheses for your research.
• Seek help in narrowing down your research topic.

For example: I want to write a Master's thesis on the topic of sustainable consumption and whether it can contribute to a more equal society. My field of study is Sociology. Can you propose me three possible approaches and research questions to study this topic? 

• Select the suggestions you find interesting for a closer examination.
• Search for scientific sources related to the suggestions in scientific databases, Google Scholar, or by utilizing AI tools.
• To ensure the research topic is truly yours, you need to further refine the AI-generated ideas and justify your choices based on previous research literature.

Brainstorming search terms

• Ask for search terms / keywords relating to your research topic / research questions.

For example: I am writing a thesis on the topic: "A Threat to world peace? Discourse on artificial intelligence at the United Nations." My research questions are: "How is AI discussed at the UN, and how is it believed to affect peace and conflicts? What search terms could I use to find sources from academic databases?

• Ask for synonyms and related or alternative terms for your keywords.
• Verify that the generated terms are indeed used in your field in the way you intended. For example, you can ask the application for definitions of the terms, but ultimately, you need to check the definitions of the terms in scientific reference works and encyclopedias.

Creating a search statement

• You can ask the chatbot to create a search statement - either from already formulated/AI-generated keywords or from your research topic.
• You can then use this search statement in scientific databases and JYKDOK.

For example: Create a Boolean search phrase relating to the research topic: "Political debate on land restoration" using English-language keywords.

• You are more likely to get a functional search statement if you specify in your prompt that you are conducting a Boolean search, or requesting for a Boolean search phrase.
• You may need to ask the application to modify or fine-tune the generated search phrase. Most likely, you will also need to edit the phrase yourself to ensure it works optimally in different databases.
• Alternatively, you can create a preliminary Boolean search phrase yourself, and then ask the chatbot to check that it is technically correct and functioning, or to add more search terms / more precision to the phrase.

Getting to know scientific concepts

• Ask for definitions and explanations of concepts you want to understand better or that are difficult to grasp.

For example: What does global governance mean?

• The definition you receive often does not take into account that scientific concepts can have multiple and even conflicting definitions, and that concepts are used differently in various fields.
• As a follow-up question, you can ask for clarification: Global governance is a concept with multiple definitions. Can you cite some specific definitions in the field of Political Science, and also cite the sources in which those definitions are presented?
• Definitions and the sources provided to support them can be hallucinated, so you should always familiarize yourself with the concepts independently using scientific reference works and encyclopedias. If the chatbot you use is able to connect and search the internet, you can ask it to base the generated answer on scientific handbooks of your field of study.