10 AI Tools Every Student Should Know About

Before you ask: no, these tools aren't for cheating. Your professors know what AI writing looks like, and getting caught isn't worth it. These are tools for learning better, not shortcuts around learning.

For research

1. Perplexity — The best research starting point. Ask a question, get an answer with sources. Way better than starting with a blank Google search and clicking through 20 tabs. Free tier is enough for most students.

2. Semantic Scholar — Free academic paper search with AI summaries. When you need actual peer-reviewed sources (not blog posts), this is where you start. The TLDR feature saves hours of reading abstracts.

3. Connected Papers — Paste a paper and see a visual map of related research. Essential for literature reviews. "I found one good paper" becomes "I found 20 good papers" in minutes.

For studying

4. NotebookLM — Google's free tool that turns your notes into a study companion. Upload lecture slides, textbook chapters, or your own notes. Then ask questions and it answers based on YOUR materials. No hallucination about your specific course content.

5. Wisdolia — Chrome extension that generates flashcards from any article or YouTube lecture. Active recall is the most effective study method, and this removes the effort of creating cards manually.

6. Explain Paper — Free tool where you highlight confusing parts of a research paper and AI explains them simply. No more pretending you understand a paragraph you've read six times.

For writing

7. Grammarly — Free grammar and spell check. The free tier catches most errors. Students get a discount on Premium if you want style suggestions.

8. Claude — Use it as a thinking partner, not a writer. Paste your thesis statement and ask "what are the strongest counterarguments?" or "what evidence am I missing?" It's like having a discussion section available 24/7.

For productivity

9. Todoist — AI suggests due dates and breaks down complex tasks. Free tier covers most student needs. When "write research paper" feels overwhelming, it breaks it into manageable steps.

10. Otter.ai — Free meeting transcription. Record lectures (with permission) and get searchable transcripts. Never miss a point because you were writing instead of listening.

A note on academic integrity

Use AI to learn better, not to avoid learning. There's a clear line: using Perplexity to find sources is research. Using ChatGPT to write your paper is plagiarism. Using Claude to challenge your arguments makes you a better thinker. Using it to generate arguments is academic dishonesty.

The students who use AI well will graduate with better skills than those who don't use it at all — and much better skills than those who use it to cheat.