Using AI to do research - Specifically online searching

[Mark Knowles]

It is easy to criticise these AIs, but I think they clearly can be useful tools. Even if 95% of what they say is nonsense that remaining 5% may be gold. I suppose they just need to be used with care and caution like any tool should be.

Identifying the Andrea Barbarigo cipher was a useful lead for me to follow up. I haven't seen it yet, but I doubt Ioanna Iordanou made it up.

I am hoping they will improve but right now I think they can cause a lot of harm insofar as their pandering and especially insofar as incorrect information. 

I am not hoping that at all. The day when you can type into an AI prompt "Tell me about the Voynich manuscript" and then it takes about 5 seconds and independently deciphers the manuscript and explains the historical context in detail, that day fills me with absolute terror. I suppose I would be labelled a "doomer".

Part of me rather likes that they get things wrong.

However, I want to use the tools available to me now to the best extent.