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Santa Clara UniversityUniversity Library

ChatGPT and Generative AI

Develop an understanding of ChatGPT and other generative AIs and how it impact your studies here at Santa Clara University

Using ChatGPT during the research process

Using ChatGPT at the start of a research project could be very helpful. Its access to a large dataset of text means it could help you find things you might not know about!

For example:

  • Brainstorming: consider using ChatGPT to help you brainstorm keywords, subjects, and topics that you can use to search for resources for your project. Just be careful about using a recent topic, as ChatGPT might not be the best partner for this brainstorming. 
  • Mindmapping: use ChatGPT to do some mind mapping for you. Similar to brainstorming, you can use this to identify potential topics but also help you identify gaps in your own knowledge that you could fill. 

If you want to learn more about ways that you can use ChatGPT and generative AI to help with brainstorming, check out this article from Ethan Mollick that talks about ChatGPT as a "thinking companion"

ChatGPT isn't the only tool that could be useful for your research - consider the following sites, many of which are free to use! The inclusion of these sites does not mean we condone or encourage their use. 

Prompting

Below are some tips to help you develop useful prompts when working with different generative AI tools.

  • Create Effective Prompts
    • Provide important context or information in your original prompt - this context will help the tool figure out the best response to provide you.
    • Use progressively detailed prompts. You can start with a general prompt, then gradually add additional details in follow-up prompts to get the results you are looking for
    • Similar to the two above, provide step-by-step instructions with each prompt to guide the tool
  • Use Personas
    • Giving ChatGPT a persona allows it to answer your questions better. When provided a persona, ChatGPT will know how to answer the question from that perspective.
      • A persona is a set of traits or characteristics that includes tone, knowledge, perspective, etc. 
    • Examples of personas include:
      • "You are a college student..."
      • "You are an expert in [subject]..."
      • "You are a journalist writing for..."
  • Incorporate user-provided examples
    • Share examples of desired output with your prompt - this gives ChatGPT guardrails on how to best respond and match your expectations.