Mushtaq Bilal, PhD
Mushtaq Bilal, PhD

@MushtaqBilalPhD

11 Tweets 96 reads Feb 06, 2023
How to use ChatGPT to become a better reader of academic texts:
If used properly, ChatGPT can make you a better reader of academic prose.
Take a research paper and paste a passage in ChatGPT.
Here I'm using the abstract of one of my own papers that discusses world literature and the 19th cent. Urdu novel.
ChatGPT has given me a summary in a relatively simple language.
This is very useful especially for students who are starting graduate school.
ChatGPT doesn't just summarize.
You can also ask it to elaborate if a text is dense.
I asked it to explain the same abstract in three paragraphs.
This is a great break down of my abstract:
Para 1: Argument
Para 2: What I'm critiquing
Para 3: Example
A great thing about ChatGPT is that it remembers what was said earlier in the conversation.
This means you can ask it follow-up questions.
Here I'm asking it the meaning of "teleology."
It tells me the meaning of the word and explains it in the context of the passage.
Then I ask it to tell me about the history of Urdu novel.
And it does.
ChatGPT can be a great tool if you want to build your close reading skills.
Another example:
I took a passage from Benedict Anderson's famous book "Imagined Communities" and pasted it in ChatGPT.
ChatGPT gives me a summary of the passage, which is quite useful.
But I don't understand what a "cultural artifact" is. So, I ask about it.
The explanation it gives is correct and useful in this case.
It may not always be correct. So, you'll need to crosscheck.
Then I ask it a complex question: what does it mean for nationalism to become modular?
And ChatGPT explains it perfectly.
If you want to ask ChatGPT complex questions, start by asking simple ones.
Train it, build its capacity before asking complex questions.
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3. Want to know more about how academics can use ChatGPT?
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