In our previous posts, we explored some ways AI can help you proofread your academic work. We also discussed what to avoid when using AI for proofreading and what to do if your proofread paper is incorrectly labelled as being fully AI-generated. In this post, we present the top five questions you can ask AI to aid your academic proofreading. Read on to find out what these questions are.
1. Can you identify and correct grammatical mistakes in my work?
AI is developed to provide answers using flawless grammar. This is because AI models are built using a combination of advanced algorithms and machine learning techniques that leverage large datasets to understand different language patterns. If you ask AI to identify and correct grammatical errors in your academic work, it will list all sentences with grammatical mistakes. It will also provide you with suggested corrections that will help you revise your work. In the long run, this could prove beneficial for your writing as AI will teach you how to write without errors.
2. Can you check for consistency in formatting in my work?
Apart from being a grammar expert, AI is an expert in formatting. This is because AI is programmed with advanced algorithms to analyse diverse formatting rules. If you are unsure if you have formatted your work correctly, be sure to ask directly. Just copy your work inside the chat and AI will identify all inconsistencies. Specifically, it will check inconsistencies in terms of font, spacing, and organisation of content. Even if your work is formatted flawlessly, AI will spot at least some mistakes, such as in how you used hyphens.
3. Can you check for consistency in citation/referencing style in my work?
AI can also check the consistency of your citations and references. Sometimes, it is difficult to get the citations and references right if you are not fully familiar with the requirements of different styles, such as Harvard, APA, and Vancouver. It often happens that students use multiple citation/referencing styles in their work instead of sticking to one. If you struggle with this, just inform AI which style you need and ask it to check whether you have employed that style correctly and consistently throughout your academic work.
4. Is the structure of my academic work logical?
Another question you can ask AI is to comment on the structure of your academic work. AI will provide you with a summary of your structure, clarifying its main strengths and weaknesses. Even if AI thinks your structure is logically presented and does not notice any inconsistencies, you can ask it a follow-up question: “Can you provide some suggestions for structure improvement?” AI will then give useful tips for improving the structure of all sections of your work, including, for example, your introduction, paragraphs in the main body, and conclusion.
5. Can you give me 20 questions can I ask you to help me proofread my work?
If you are unsure which questions to ask AI while proofreading your academic work, you can simply ask it. AI will produce a series of questions or prompts for you to consider while proofreading. For instance, it will ask you to check for subject-word agreement in your sentences, unclear or ambiguous phrases that need clarification, and capitalisation in titles and headings. If you want to get more specific questions, be sure to paste your work to the AI chat and it will craft its answers based on the content of your work.
A key message
The key message of this blog post is that you can interact with AI in a way that will help you proofread your academic work without making you a cheater. To assist your proofreading process, you can ask AI to identify and correct grammatical mistakes, check for consistency in formatting and citation/referencing style, check the structure of your work, and provide you with more questions or prompts to consider while proofreading.
