Paper Topic Ideas

Artificial Intelligence and ChatGPT

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been under heavy discussion in the media recently due to the introduction of the ChatGPT tool by OpenAI. I’ve definitely been hearing a lot about it, and thought it could make an interesting topic for a paper. AI itself is a large, fast-developing landscape, so I would need to come up with a more specific research topic if I wanted to write a paper on it. In fact, I might first want to do a little basic reading on AI before I develop a research topic further. 

Brainstorming and Getting Started

If I look at a few reference sources, it might give me a more basic understanding of what AI is, how it’s developed over time, how it has been and might be used, and who some of the key players in AI have been. Articles on Artificial Intelligence in Access Science and Credo Reference, two databases available through PCC Library that contain online encyclopedias and dictionaries, could give me some helpful background and more ideas for topics.  Wikipedia’s article on AI could also be a great jumping off point to help me get more ideas. For instance, Wikipedia has a whole section on AI in Fiction, which is definitely a topic I could explore further. Looking at the further reading section in Wikipedia, or any of the references, could give me some richer, and more in-depth sources to check out, as well. And the “See Also” section provides ideas for some topics connected to AI. 

Research Questions and Directions

Here are some other research directions I could take after getting an initial sense of the AI landscape, though each of these would likely need even more honing once I did a little more research on them: 

• AI and Healthcare: What are the ways AI might be used in healthcare? What are the pros and cons of using it in healthcare? What are the ethics of using AI in healthcare, and what do healthcare practitioners think of using AI? My quick search in the Access Science database helped me to realize there’s interest in using AI in hearing aids, which was something I hadn’t considered. 

• AI and the Law: How might AI affect the law profession? How might laws apply to AI? What and how do lawyers think about AI? 

• AI and Education: How might AI affect education? What are the ways it has been and could be used in education? What are the pros and cons of integrating AI tools into education? 

• AI and Art: How has AI been used in the arts: visual, music, or otherwise? What does it mean to produce art with AI, both mechanically and philosophically? What about copyright and AI? 

Consider Using a Research Guide

If your research topic falls under a certain subject, like Health Studies, Computer Science, or Engineering, consider checking out our Research Guides on those subjects. Our Research Guides give suggestions for places you can find articles, books, and other information for research on many different subjects (we’ve got Research Guides on almost any subject you can imagine!). They help take the guesswork out of figuring out where to go for your research. 

Make Sure You Understand Your Assignment

Before you settle on a research question or topic for any paper, make sure you understand the assignment. What kind of paper are you expected to write? Do you need to have a thesis, or a point of view you need to support? What kinds of sources do you need to use to support your paper? This video from PCC library on evaluating quality sources can help you figure out which kinds of sources might be most helpful to you, and you can always ask a librarian if you need further help developing your research topic. 

Photo Credit: "Big Data Artificial Intelligence" by mohamed mahmoud hassan is licensed under a CC0 1.0 license