It’s hard to avoid the term "artificial intelligence" these days: Almost every day, new AI-powered programs and tools appear on the market, designed to simplify writing, research and creativity processes. It's a development that is causing both excitement and concern — among researchers as well as those who will be most affected by the AI tool revolution: Creatives and desk workers.
However, machine learning methods have already been supporting us in our everyday lives for a number of years. They work in the background, for example, in search engines, in voice assistants and social media algorithms. Since the release of the AI-powered chatbot ChatGPT in November 2022, the topic of AI tools has also been more present in public discourse.
With the "Deus Ex Machina?"-series, we want to put selected AI support tools to the test: What can they do, what algorithms drive their AI, and how intuitive are they to use? What are the rhetorical advantages of these tools and what practical assistance do they provide? We are focusing primarily on tools that aim to be a support for everyday life in science and science communication, that are interesting for students, or that can (potentially) lessen the workload in journalistic practice — at least that is what the manufacturers claim. But is this really the case? That is what we want to find out.
You can find our tool tests here:
