Research Fundamentals: Don't Stop at the Answer: AI as a Research Partner

Are you using AI for your class papers but feel like you’re getting generic responses or wondering where the facts came from? Copy-pasting your assignment prompt into an AI tool and taking the response as "the answer" often leads to surface-level papers, dubious sources, and confusion. This interactive workshop provides strategies to turn the AI “answer” into a collaborative tool that sharpens your research. You’ll learn how LLMs work, how to critically evaluate AI responses, and how to leverage AI to untangle complex prompts, generate power keywords, and stress-test your arguments before taking your research into UC Library Search and other library databases. Geared toward lower-level undergraduates, but valuable for anyone looking to power up their research process without sacrificing critical thought.