Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to computer systems that perform tasks typically requiring human intelligence. AI is at work in applications we use everyday, including the speech recognition used by Google translate, Siri, and Alexa, the natural language processing used by search engines like Google, and the predictive text used for autocomplete and smart compose.
Generative AI (GenAI) is “a type of artificial intelligence that involves creating machines or computer programs that can generate new content, such as images, text, or music. Unlike traditional AI systems that rely on predefined rules or pre-existing data to make decisions, generative AI models use algorithms and neural networks to learn patterns and relationships in data and generate new outputs based on that learning” (Kwantlen Polytechnic University, n.d., p. 1).
There are many different types of generative AI tools that can discover & synthesize scholarly research, create text, images, sound, video, and more. This page describes common types and includes examples of tools.
| Note: Many of these tools cost money to use or to access premium features. You can often create a free basic account or explore the tool with a short-term trial. |
Some generative AI tools can automate parts of the research process and make long, complex texts easier to decipher. This type of AI finds scholarly articles that match a user's prompt. It can also analyze research papers to extract key information or provide summaries.
Text-based generative AI tools create new text that is similar to the data on which they were trained. Training for AI chatbots involves consuming large amounts of text from webpages, books, and other sources. Text is analyzed to find patterns and relationships in human language. These tools are known as Large Language Models (LLMs) and use probability to predict which words should appear in sequence.
This type of AI learns through analyzing datasets of images with captions or text descriptions. If it knows what two different concepts are, like a cat and a skateboard, it can merge those concepts together when prompted to create an image of a cat on a skateboard.
AI music generators analyze music tracks and metadata (artist name, album title, genre, year song was released, associated playlists) to identify patterns and features in particular music genres. They may also be trained on song lyrics. If a music generator has only been exposed to one type of music (e.g., classical), then the music it generates will sound similar to those works.
Creating a video typically requires the use of audio, visual, and text elements. Some generative AI video programs have harvested existing videos to learn how to create new ones, while others have sourced the three elements to create video from audio, visual, and text sources. There are even generative AI video programs that have been trained to use video editing software, so they can apply effects to a video that you have created, such as adding captions, transitions, and animations.
Using Generative AI by University of Alberta Library is licensed under a CC-BY-NC 4.0 licence.
Artificial Intelligence - Student Guide by MacEwan University Library is licensed under a CC BY-NC-SA licence.
