AI Tools for Smarter Research and Personalized Learning Insights

Artificial intelligence has become, for me and many others in the academic, scientific, or self-learning world, a kind of secret weapon—a personal assistant that feels less like cold technology and more like a knowledgeable, sometimes cheeky, partner. In this post, I want to walk you, step by step, through the AI tools and strategies I use to navigate everything from doctoral research and lesson planning to just picking up a new topic on a lazy Friday night. Along the way, I’ll share what genuinely works in practice, where I’ve stumbled, what I wish I’d known sooner, and how even the smallest piece of automation can give you your time and sanity back.

Why Bother with AI for Research and Learning?

Let’s be honest: most of the pain in academic work or personal learning doesn’t come from the eureka moments—it comes from the slog. Endless literature searches, note-taking, summarising, building lesson plans, or trying to understand new concepts after a full day of meetings or chores… We’ve all been there.

AI, when properly tuned and not left to wild hallucinations, is a massive time-saver. Here’s how I see its benefits from my daily grind:

• Automating Repetitive Tasks: Need an abstract, a summary, a comparison table of research findings? AI does that, and swiftly—sometimes even with more consistency than I could after my fourth coffee.
• Speeding Up Literature Review: Honestly, reducing workload by 20–40% is conservative; I’d say sometimes I gain whole afternoons. Instead of reading through a pile of PDFs with similar findings, I prompt the AI to TL;DR or list methods and results. Done.
• Finding the Right Sources: During my own academic work, especially around niche areas or cross-disciplinary topics, searching for authoritative sources is much harder than the reading itself. AI tools now bridge the gap, surfacing relevant, peer-reviewed material.
• Personalising Learning at Scale: AI can adapt to my pace and learning goals, spitting out explanations for everything from the Heisenberg uncertainty principle to the Fibonacci sequence on demand.
• Rapid Creation of Teaching Materials: As an educator, being able to instantly generate quizzes, lesson outlines, or even tests tailored to specific levels or standards saves me hours and gives students more engaging content.
• Making Data Analysis Accessible: Gone are my days of fighting with expensive or finicky tools just to produce a chart. Now, I can upload spreadsheets, images, or documents, prompt the AI for a certain visualisation or statistical summary, and stay focused on the substance, not the process.

And the real kicker? These tools don’t just make me more productive—they genuinely make learning and research more engaging, flexible, and, yes, even a bit more fun.

Baked-In Learning Modes: The Big AI Models

I’ve watched the rise of general-purpose AI models—ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, DeepSeek, and the like—almost like a parent seeing kids grow up: every month they seem to learn a new trick. Before diving into the specialist apps, let’s look at how these mainstream tools, right off the bat, can be harnessed for research or coursework.

Claude: Study Plans with Progress Tracking

In Claude (Anthropic), I’ve used two game-changing modes:

• Research Mode: For comprehensive, source-backed exploration of a topic.
• Learning / Learn Mode: Allows me to ask for a structured plan and then track my own progress.

For example, I once asked for a “study plan for Web Application Cyber Security, 1 hour per day until Christmas.” The output? Day-by-day modules (OWASP, SQLi, XSS, etc.), with recommended articles, videos, and even an interactive checklist where I tick off what I’ve completed. It’s honestly like having a personal tutor and study-buddy rolled into one.

Perplexity: Academic-Savvy Literature Search

Perplexity is my go-to when “Google isn’t cutting it.” It has two remarkable features:

• Deep Research: Systematically parses scholarly databases and scientific journals.
• Academic Mode: Restricts itself to reputable, peer-reviewed sources (think PubMed, MDPI, JSTOR, and even national academic repositories).

I get an expert-level research brief—definitions, key findings, citations—sometimes in less time than it takes my kettle to boil.

Gemini: Learn Mode, Dynamic Labs, and Automatic Lesson Builders

Gemini’s “Learn Mode” puts me in the pilot seat:

• It can turn a whim (“Help me relax quickly”) into breathing exercise instructions and even auto-build a fitness app mockup.
• Dump in a PDF or learning request, and you get immersive text, adaptive quizzes, interactive flashcards, and summary videos tailor-made for your age and learning style.
• With the experimental “Learn Your Way” platform, I’ve tried loading course texts and having the AI design a personalized, step-by-step study track with mind maps, narrated explainers, and knowledge-checks. Truly novel.

What I love is the sense of playfulness—Gemini sometimes even cracks a harmless joke or sprinkles in a not-so-obvious fact.

ChatGPT: Guided Problem Solving and The „Socratic Tutor”

With ChatGPT in „Study and Learn” mode, it’s much more than a homework cheat-sheet. When I give it a tough physics or maths problem, it first walks me through the concepts, asks me prompting questions, and expects me to try the next step before giving hints. It’s almost like a live, responsive online problem session. Sometimes, I get that delightful “aha!” moment right before ChatGPT suggests the answer.

Specialist Tools: From Research Automation to Full-On Academic Writing

Now, let’s get our hands dirty with the “power user” toolkit—these are the pragmatic, sometimes niche, platforms that turn a long-winded research marathon into something much closer to a 5K race.

Scholarsy: Summarizing and Critiquing Individual Papers

I consider Scholarsy the “Pocket Peer Reviewer.” I upload a PDF (or just a DOI), and within minutes I get:

• Snapshot summary of the article
• Key findings, methodology, and limitations extracted
• Keyword tagging for quick skimming
• Analysis tab with editorial-style feedback—like “methodology could use more detail” or “findings robust, but generalizability is questionable.”
• Image tab aggregating all the figures and diagrams, saving me from scrolling forever through dense texts

With a modest subscription (~£10/month when I last checked), the value versus time saved for thesis writers or researchers is enormous.

Elicit: Automating Literature Reviews and Systematic Syntheses

Elicit lets me move quickly from “what’s out there?” to “what does the field know, according to the best evidence?”

• Ask a question (“How does magnet therapy affect sleep?”) and it finds, collates, and even tabulates abstracts, methods, outcomes, and discussions across dozens of papers.
• It can generate exportable reports (PDF or RIS format) and supports integration with reference managers like Mendeley or Zotero—just the right nudge for systematic reviews or those daunting early chapters of dissertations.

OpenRead, Papers, and the Next Generation of Research Libraries

If you, like me, have amassed more PDFs than socks, managing them is a job in itself. OpenRead boasts 300+ million scientific works indexed. The AI assistant helps break down what’s worth reading, compares findings, and links related works in a way that the classic Google Scholar never dreamed of. Papers, meanwhile, structures your own digital library and annotation workflow. Both are brilliant companions to Mendeley/Zotero, not substitutes.

CSpace (Typeset.io): All-in-One Academic Swiss Army Knife

CSpace wins my “where was this when I started grad school?” award. What can it do?

• Essay and Article Builder: Start typing and it suggests structure, adds text, even inserts appropriate citations (in APA, IEEE, Harvard—you name it).
• Agent Gallery: Choose reusable “bots” for abstracts, citation mining, table population, and method checks. They’re like specialist assistants you can call on demand.
• AI Detection and Humanization: Upload a draft, and CSpace tells you how AI-like your language is—then it can tweak style to pass muster with even the most old-fashioned supervisors.
• One-Click Article Generator: Feed it a title, respond to some clarifying questions, and get a full outlined scientific article (just verify everything yourself before submission, of course).
• Comparative Literature Tables: Load in multiple PDFs and get a side-by-side view of TL;DRs, methods, findings, and citations. Nothing beats it for systematic reviews or field overviews.

For roughly £40–£50 per year (depending on token packs and premium features), it easily pays for itself with a single major project.

Tools for Drafting, Editing, and Shaping Academic Work

Once the research is “digested,” actually writing and iterating is the next test. Here are a few standouts from my own toolkit:

Tezify: Pre-Submission Review for Academic Papers

Tezify reads through a draft—be it a thesis, dissertation, or article—and flags structural or methodological glitches long before you click “submit.” It’s not quite a supervisor replacement (no snippy margin comments), but comes scarily close, especially when you’re running close to a hard deadline.

Speednote: Turning Chaotic Notes into Structured Gold

The handwriting equivalent of a top-tier barista: Speednote takes whatever “chicken scratch” notes or jumbled thoughts I have, parses equations, re-articulates arguments, and outputs proper, readable prose. With around 15 free notecleaning sessions per day, it’s rescued me from many a late-night panic.

Samuel AI: Drafting Lengthy Works, from eBooks to Doctoral Theses

Samuel AI offers a way to map out full-length books or comprehensive research projects—up to 200,000 words. It builds structure, generates chapters, and even attempts to cite (though you’ll still want to double-check those references, naturally). Its “humanize” option, which tweaks AI patterns and tone, is especially helpful if you’re trying to pass tricky academic detectors.

AI Tools for Teachers and Curriculum Designers

As someone involved with both classroom teaching and corporate training, I find that the right tools make the difference between burnt-out prep and energised delivery.

Eduaide: Lesson Scenarios, Outlines, and Escape Room Games

Eduaide makes designing basic quizzes, outlines, and gamified lesson plans (think “solve a science puzzle to exit the virtual classroom”) a breeze. Currently, it’s largely text-focused—interactive graphics and live activities are still in the works—but, if you’re in a pinch, you’ll get well-structured templates in minutes.

MagicSchool AI: The Educator’s Toolbox for Every Need

MagicSchool AI is purpose-built for teachers, headmasters, or university staff. It generates:

• lesson outlines, grouped by age or skill
• group work scenarios and scientific experiments („lab packs”)
• tailored tests, rubrics, and event planners
• even musical jingles for kids, automatically composed with topics from the lesson!

My favourite bit? The auto-prompt assistant, which lets me be (no joke) a little lazy. I sketch out the idea, and MagicSchool AI helps polish the command until I get that just-right lesson material.

EdTool: Building Interactive Lessons from PDFs and Texts

Upload part of a PDF, pick key pages, and EdTool rapidly extracts text, identifies main ideas, and creates serving-ready lesson modules:

• multi-choice questions or sorting activities
• true/false quizzes
• structured homework assignments or recap slides

Instead of hours spent transcribing textbooks, I use my time to add context, commentary, and adapt the lesson for specific classes.

ReadWonders: Engaging Young Readers and Tracking Progress

ReadWonders is a hidden gem for parents or teachers working with early readers. The AI follows each child’s progress, sets personalised comprehension questions, and sends handy activity summaries to the adult’s mobile or inbox. Paired with gamified feedback, it has been a hit with several kids (and more than one grateful teacher) in my circle.

Language Learning and Conversational AI

Traditional flashcard apps are all well and good—but genuine language acquisition, in my experience, happens through conversation (including the mistakes). Here’s how AI makes it less awkward and a lot more effective:

SpeakPal: Real Dialogue Practice, Corrective Feedback Included

SpeakPal stands out for actual “speaking and listening” practice:

• I choose any language (or even switch avatars for variety),
• Engage in voice or text chat,
• The AI gently corrects grammar and word choice (“That’s not quite right, try this instead”),
• Each exchange is clickable for translation or re-listening, and it adapts to my speed.

It’s more natural than any “tap-the-picture” app. I’ve even managed to revive my rusty German, and a friend is making headway with Korean, much to his delight (and gentle mockery from his family).

Duolingo Max: AI-Powered Lessons for Newbies and Pros Alike

Duolingo Max’s AI explanations and dialogue simulations make for great vocabulary drills and quick grammar checks, but for spontaneous, open-ended conversation, it’s SpeakPal all the way for me.

Visualizing, Mapping, and Making Sense of Knowledge

A massive part of research is making sense of information visually—be that diagrams, flow charts, or mind maps. Two elegant tools have made my digital desk much neater:

Mermaid Chart: From Pseudocode to Diagrams in Seconds

Mermaid Chart uses an almost childishly simple syntax to generate flowcharts, process maps, and causal diagrams. When writing up a project or working through a technical process, a few lines of code and one click yield professional-looking images—for free (three per day in the free tier). The AI can even “fix” my syntax or suggest improvements.

Lucidchart GPT: Seamless Integration with Generative AI

By combining Lucidchart’s flexibility with ChatGPT’s creative prompt power, I sketch out diagram ideas in conversation—then let the app draft up the visual model, ready for me to polish or annotate.

Managing Your Research, Notes, and Resources

Even the best summaries are only as useful as they are accessible. I rely on these tools for order and recall:

Notebook LM and AI-Powered Notetaking

Notebook LM (Google) brings together files, notes, and AI summarisation. For moderate-sized projects (think 500 pages or so), it’ll generate tests, outlines, and even presentation decks from my notes. For really huge projects, Claude’s monster context window wins.

Mendeley / Zotero: Gold Standard Reference Management

And of course, the classics—Mendeley and Zotero—still rule when it comes to generating bibliographies, handling DOI-based citations, and integrating references into my writing process. AI assistance now speeds up citation extraction and clueing-in for less obvious sources.

NoteGPT: Video Summaries, Math, Mind Maps—All in One Place

NoteGPT started as a YouTube summariser, but now does everything from article writing (“humanising” it as needed) to mapping out project frameworks and creating flashcards for study. It runs on DeepSeek—an impressively powered AI model out of China—and is currently less expensive than some US-based alternatives.

Case Study: Building a Piano Learning App with AI in Under 30 Minutes

I wanted to see just how quickly AI could translate an educational idea into a working prototype. The challenge: ask Gemini Labs to create an application for keyboard practice that adapts to progress and spans beginners to advanced users.

Gemini returned a functional browser app with lesson modules, keyboard mapping (ASD etc.), real sound output, practice exercises, and instant skill verification in literally minutes. Deploying such a solution by hand would once have needed a full team of developers and weeks of work. Now? It took a few targeted prompts and a coffee break.

This wasn’t just a party trick—the basic logic applies across fields. Whether I’m teaching coding, music, maths, or science, generative AI lets me spin up interactive exercises and feedback loops custom-crafted to my learners’ needs.

My Practical Workflow: How I Combine These Tools

• For University Research or Thesis-Writing:
  • Start with CSpace + Elicit (Perplexity for quick, up-to-date searches)
  • Draft longer texts with Samuel AI or CSpace
  • Organise citations and work up the reference list in Mendeley/Zotero
• For Teachers and Educational Designers:
  • Create lesson material in MagicSchool AI + EdTool
  • Enliven classes with dynamic quizzes (Quizizz, Kahoot), or even instant apps via Gemini Labs
  • Use ReadWonders and similar for younger learners
• For Self-Learners:
  • Pick up new skills in Gemini Learn Mode/Learn Your Way
  • Practice languages with SpeakPal
  • Organise notes and audio summaries with NoteGPT

Final Reflections: Where Human Meets Machine

Throughout all these experiences, one principle stands out. While AI can strip away the tedious 30–50% of rote work—finding papers, summarizing, formatting citations, even “rewording for style”—the essence of research and learning remains with us: picking the right questions, discerning valid evidence, weighing competing explanations, and making thoughtful decisions. No AI will do my homework of thinking for me.

If you’re as invested in saving time and boosting quality while keeping the spark of creativity and rigour alive, these AI tools and strategies are your allies. Don’t just take my word for it—give them a go, adapt them to your workflow, and don’t be afraid to put your own spin on things. After all, while AI may process, I reckon we still do the best thinking.

Do you have a favourite AI research or learning tool, or a workflow hack that’s saved your sanity? Share your story or ask for my honest take—I’d love to swap notes.

This article is based on the training course “Narzędziownik AI 2.0” – session 12, conducted by the excellent Tomek Turba from Sekurak.pl.