Overview of relevant AI tools
Below is a curated overview of conversational AI tools relevant to academic work. These tools differ in how they interact with information — use the filters to browse by category:
- General chat — open-ended assistants for brainstorming, drafting, or explaining concepts
- Research — tools that perform structured, multi-step research with source retrieval and citations
- Document chat — tools that let you upload a PDF and ask questions directly about its content
- Writing tools — dedicated editors for structuring and formatting academic manuscripts (no chat interface)
- VU license available — tools you can access through your institutional account
Most tools offer a free version with core functionality, alongside a paid tier that unlocks additional features such as higher usage limits, more powerful models, or advanced capabilities. Select a tool to see a simulated example of what it looks like in practice. For a more comprehensive overview, see the BUas AI Tools library guide ↗.
G
ChatGPT
OpenAI
A general-purpose AI assistant for brainstorming, drafting, summarising, and explaining concepts across virtually any topic.
M
Microsoft Copilot
Microsoft
Microsoft's web-connected AI assistant, available to VU students via institutional account with data privacy protections.
P
Perplexity
Perplexity AI
A research-oriented AI assistant that answers questions with real-time web search and automatically cites its sources.
C
ChatPDF
ChatPDF.com
Upload a PDF — a research paper, textbook chapter, or report — and ask questions directly about its content.
E
Explain Paper
Explainpaper.com
Upload a research paper and highlight any passage you find confusing to get a plain-language explanation of that section.
✦
Google Gemini
Google
Google's multimodal AI assistant for text, reasoning, and planning tasks, accessible via a personal or university Google account.
J
Jenni.ai
Jenni
An AI writing assistant built for academic work — manage your reference library, draft with inline citations, and chat with your sources in one workspace.
Q
QuillBot
QuillBot AI
A writing assistance suite with a paraphraser, grammar checker, plagiarism detector, and AI chat — designed to help you refine and polish academic writing.
S
SciFlow
SciFlow GmbH
A structured academic writing editor for manuscripts and theses — handles formatting, references, and journal export. No AI chat interface.
No tools match this filter.
Tool
Simulated interface