Ilya Shabanov Profile picture
Mar 30 13 tweets 6 min read Twitter logo Read on Twitter
Using your research notes with ChatGPT is a huge time saver.

But if you don't do it right, you run into AI's problems.

Here is what these are and how to overcome them:
👇
ChatGPT is a GENERATIVE model.

It generates PLAUSIBLE text given training texts.

Training often involves filling in blanks in sentences (MASKING).

Limitation #1: AI doesn't differentiate fact from fiction.

That means: It is great with text, but terrible at facts.
To overcome that, provide "CONTEXT". i.e. additional text for the AI to work on.

Limitation #2: Context length.

paid (GPT-4): ~6 or 24k words (larger 2x price)
free (GPT-3.5): ~1.5k words

A single paper can be 2k-10k words.

That means: To work well, we must use shorter texts.
If your notes are 1 page summaries, these limitations will make it hard or impossible to use AI.

There is a better structure: Source - Collect - Think - Outline system (See attached tweet).

But let's see why it's good for AI (and what we can do).
Instead of summaries, use CONCEPTS.

Break up everything you read into SMALL + FACTUAL statements.

Small and factual is what we will need to overcome the AI limitations of length and fiction.
Put these statemes into COLLECTIONS and add the SOURCE.

I organize collections by topic. If they get too large, break them into separate notes.

The source information will come in handy, when we ask the AI to write.

(You can't do this without @obsdmd or a similar tool.)
@obsdmd Collect questions, just like you collect factual statements.

Link the questions to relevant notes.

Think of combining questions with collections of facts.

This is what we are going to feed to the AI!
@obsdmd You can in theory use AI in your browser - but there is a much better, more performant way.

Follow this tutorial to create prompt templates for common tasks.

These prompts will be executed DIRECTLY in @obsdmd (and run faster than in the browser).

@obsdmd I manually select a few facts on a topic from my notes.

My "Scientific Summary" template asks AI to keep the source links.
{{context}} gets replaced by my selection.

No invented sources, the result is likely FACTUALLY CORRECT.

I do the research, the AI does the writing.
@obsdmd Repeat this process for multiple paragrpahs.

The resulting paragraphs will contain redundant introductions.

JOIN those with another prompt.

Always double check. Don't do this without understanding.

Remember: AI GENERATES plausible text, it doesn't understand.
@obsdmd You'll end up with usable blocks for your publication.

Use these as raw materials to start writing!

This AI workflow will be integrated into my note taking course.
Use the system to be "AI ready".

(I'll notify you about the upcoming AI update)

effortlessacademic.carrd.co
@obsdmd Summary:

► AI Limitations: Factuality + Context length
► Extract SHORT + FACTUAL statements as "atomic bits".
► Use AI to join these into paragraphs...
► ...and those into bigger texts.

► Repeat to get a usable first writing. Ready to be polished and fleshed out.
@obsdmd This AI technology is revolutionary, but also not entirely overwhelming.

Most people just don't understand it yet and use it a bit "wrong".

Generative AI generates plausible text. If you manage to work around its limitations it becomes an incredibly powerful tool.

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More from @Artifexx

Mar 29
No time to read a research paper in depth?

This AI app will save you time and effort:
(+ 3 innovative AI prompts to try out)

👇
@scispace_ lets you analyze a PDF using AI. It will

- Answer questions
- Explain math or complex text
- Brainstorm research questions
- Come up with tags
- Search for specific parts

Let's see a few examples and then integrate it into @obsdmd (where my research notes live).
@scispace_ @obsdmd Head over to @scispace_ and make an account.

Click on "My Library".

Upload a PDF, or connect with Zotero to get a paper.

Click the uploaded PDF to analyze it. (Can take ~30 sec)
Read 12 tweets
Mar 25
This is how I use AI (ChatGPT) to improve my academic research.

"AI Prompt Templates" supercharge any task from PDF annotations to writing a paper.

Step by step tutorial with powerful prompts for researchers:
👇
In this tutorial we:

1. annotate PDFs in @zotero
2. import them into our notes in @obsdmd
3. work with ChatGPT directly in Obsidian using PROMPT TEMPLATES.
4. Use ChatGPT to write research publications.

(It's absolutely on par with what @NotionHQ recently introduced.)
@zotero @obsdmd @NotionHQ The linked thread will show you how on how to link @zotero and @obsdmd to get your annotations into Obsidian.

Here: Annotate MORE rather than less.
We will pass the annotations to ChatGPT.
The more context it has, the better it can do the job.

Read 18 tweets
Mar 23
Dear Followers,

The last 3 weeks I have focused on Literature Discovery. Maybe it is time to explore something else?

What should I focus on next?
(Check examples in the thread before you vote!)
1. Academic Note Taking

How to organize information to not forget what you read, find notes quickly and enhance creativity.

❌ Most people just collect and summarize PDFs.

A while ago I made a post about my system - but since then, it evolved!

2. Using AI for Academia

The newest generation of AI are excellent jugglers of TEXT, not SENSE.

I've been working on integrating ChatGPT into my notes. (There are some great plugins out there)

Generally I want to use AI outside of ChatGPT, like here:
Read 6 tweets
Mar 22
If you have too many papers to read but no time, try this:

Pick core papers with @LitmapsApp.
Then balze through the rest with @scispace_ AI.

This workflow saves me days of reading work:
👇
@LitmapsApp @scispace_ Core papers contain central kewords, topics and problems.

Everyone references them.

If we study them first, we can skim the rest. (see last tweets)

Let's identify these FOUNDATIONAL papers!
@LitmapsApp @scispace_ Start by finding at least 20 or so papers on your topic.

We will pick the most relevant automatically, so much bigger collections are fine.

(Indeed the results might be even better!)

Here's a method to grow a collection (Steps 1-3):
Read 13 tweets
Mar 18
A huge THANK YOU to all the participants of the Effortless Literature Review Course.

Feedback is much appreciated by email or just reply to this thread.

Here are all the tools/courses we discussed:
1. @LitmapsApp

Discovery of relevant literature and spotting gaps in your own (upcoming) publications.

Use EFFORTLESSACADEMIC code for a discount.
2. @scite

Deep dive into a paper and its citations. Find out who is supporting it or who is contrasting it. Use their free browser and zotero extension as well.

Use EFFORTLESSACADEMIC code for a discount.
Read 12 tweets
Mar 17
9 threads to make your Literature Review effortless.

Read here on Twitter or join my workshop for a deep dive.
effortlesslitreview.carrd.co
1. Obtain a few seed publications and grow them into a colleciton:

2. Upgrade your browser to help with discovery:

Read 11 tweets

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