Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) can support study and analysis in research.
The University of Bologna encourages a responsible and conscious use of these tools.
GenAI should enhance critical thinking and personal creativity without replacing them.
The following examples of use cases cover study and analysis (in preparation for scientific production) by presenting some of the most widespread applications.
Risk that the generated hypotheses and analysis are simplified or superficial or inconsistent with the specific research objectives.
Risk of privacy breach and personal data breach or confidentiality breach for information from other research work.
Using GenAI is not recommended from a technological viewpoint, because it may generate hypotheses and analysis that are too simplified or superficial or inconsistent with the specific research objectives.
Make sure that the input you provide does not contain personal data from other research work, unless an appropriate legal basis exists.
Check that you have specific permission to upload to the GenAI system copyrighted or confidential data or content, or data or content subject to other contractual obligations.
Risk of research ethics violations.
Risk of inconsistency with the required structures or work plans.
It is recommended that you use GenAI to generate an outline to be supplemented with original content written by the researcher.
Comply with research ethics standards if the research project based on the generated outline involves the processing of personal data.
Check for consistency with the requirements of the work plans or calls for applications.
Risk that the generated information is incomplete because GenAI tends to find established knowledge rather than recent one.
It is recommended that you only use GenAI as a preliminary step to identify open problems in areas you are not familiar with, as GenAI tends to find established knowledge.
Make sure that the research questions are original by systematically and thoroughly checking the literature to avoid overlaps with existing studies and ensure a novel approach.
Check whether the research questions are plausible in the specific research context in relation to the objectives and available budget.
Risk of hallucinations.
It is recommended that you pay attention to any hallucinations of the GenAI model.
Check the content for correctness and reliability.
Assess the consistency, objectivity and soundness of the explanations and concepts.
Risk of hallucinations.
It is recommended that you pay attention to any hallucinations of the GenAI model.
Check the content for correctness and reliability.
Assess the consistency, objectivity and soundness of the explanations and concepts.
Risk of hallucinations.
Using GenAI tools is not recommended from a technological viewpoint, because, in this field, GenAI may be inaccurate, generate hallucinations and fail to include recent articles.
It is recommended that you use databases or GenAI tools that integrate up-to-date sources instead (e.g. scite.ai).
Check the sources used for accuracy and reliability also by means of specialist search engines.
Check the suggested bibliographies for completeness and quality.
Risk that the summary is inaccurate.
It is recommended that you upload the documents rather than assuming that GenAI knows them.
Check that the summary of the most cited and significant works is accurate and includes the main contributions.
Check that the summary reflects the authors' ideas and results correctly, avoiding oversimplification or distortion.
Make sure that other authors' opinions or thoughts are quoted in a complete and accurate manner.
Check whether the summary reflects the specific objective and has the thematic focus selected by the GenAI user.
Risk that the sources are inaccurate.
Risk of quoting other authors' opinions or thoughts inaccurately.
Check that the sources are accurate and that the main contributions and authors come from reliable sources.
Check that the sources are selected based on a rigorous evaluation of the most significant and authoritative publications in the field.
Check the information for completeness and the cited authors for quality/integrity.
Pay attention to inaccuracies: recent contributions may not be included or covered in the generated text.
Make sure that other authors' opinions or thoughts are quoted in a complete and accurate manner.
Risk that the generated information is incomplete because GenAI tends to find established knowledge rather than recent one.
Risk of quoting other authors' opinions or thoughts inaccurately.
Using GenAI is not recommended from a technological viewpoint, because it may fail to include recent studies. It is recommended that you upload the documents rather than assuming that GenAI knows them.
Check that the comparison between recent studies is accurate and well documented.
Check that the trends and gaps are identified based on a rigorous evaluation of the existing literature, avoiding wrong conclusions or conclusions not supported by the data.
Make sure that other authors' opinions or thoughts are quoted in a complete and accurate manner.
Risk of quoting other authors' opinions or thoughts inaccurately.
Risk of inaccuracy in identifying synonyms and analogies between fields of research.
Check that the correlations are relevant and justified, avoiding forced analogies that may distort the understanding of concepts in their respective contexts.
Make sure that other authors' opinions or thoughts are quoted in a complete and accurate manner.
Check that the identification of synonyms and analogies between different fields of research is accurate.
Risk that the answers are inaccurate.
Risk that the answers contain distortions or omissions.
Risk of copyright infringement and confidentiality breach.
Risk of privacy breach and personal data breach.
Check the extracted information for accuracy and correct contextualisation.
Check that the answer accurately reflects the content of the text, without any distortions or omissions altering the original meaning.
Make sure that the authors' opinions or thoughts are quoted in a complete and accurate manner.
Make sure that the document you provide does not contain personal data from other research work, unless an appropriate legal basis exists.
Check that you have specific permission to upload to the GenAI system copyrighted or confidential documents, or documents subject to other contractual obligations.
Risk of copyright infringement and confidentiality breach.
Risk of distortions.
Check the extracted information for accuracy and correct contextualisation.
Check that the search accurately reflects the content of the text, without any distortions or omissions altering the original meaning.
Make sure that the authors' opinions or thoughts are quoted in a complete and accurate manner and that the source is interpreted correctly.
Check that you have specific permission to upload to the GenAI system copyrighted or confidential documents, or documents subject to other contractual obligations.
Critically assess the output to make sure that it does not contain hallucinations or inaccurate information.
Risk of copyright infringement and confidentiality breach.
Risk of distortions.
Check the extracted information for accuracy and correct contextualisation.
Check that the explanation accurately reflects the content of the text, without any distortions or omissions altering the original meaning.
Make sure that the authors' opinions or thoughts are quoted in a complete and accurate manner and that the source is interpreted correctly.
Check that you have specific permission to upload to the GenAI system copyrighted or confidential documents, or documents subject to other contractual obligations.
Critically assess the output to make sure that it does not contain hallucinations or inaccurate information.