How can researchers and students in low- and middle-income countries use generative AI for economic research?
There are many ways in which generative AI can be useful for economics students and researchers. For example, generative AI can help to automate research tasks, act as a tutor, and assist by suggesting ideas and providing feedback - all of which can make researchers more productive.
Yet access to, and the use of, this new technology is extremely unequal. Recent research showed that low-income economies make up less that 1% of global traffic on generative AI tools, while there has been a rapid adoption of generative AI in other contexts, such as the US.
Using generative AI for economic research
In this webinar, Anton Korinek provides an overview of how economic students and researchers can begin to use generative AI in their research. Anton focuses on the different applications of free generative AI products, also accounting for which models work better on lower bandwidths and in different languages.
Download Anton's slides on using generative AI for economic research.
Anton begins the presentation with some starting advice:
- Use the best large language model (LLM) model you can access.
- Treat the LLM as if it was your intern who is smart, incredibly motivated, and eager to help, but completely lacks the context of what you are doing.
Therefore you need to provide background and context, iterate and experiment, and be patient!
Anton also highlights some special considerations for users in low- and middle-income countries:
- GenAI helps to overcome language barriers.
- Cutting-edge GenAI tools are free.
- A slow internet connection is all that’s needed.
During the rest of his presentation, Anton covers seven categories of capabilities, with several dozen sample use cases:
- Ideation and feedback
- Writing
- Background research
- Coding
- Data analysis
- Math
- Research promotion
Check out Anton Korinek's most recent paper on using generative AI for economic research, or visit the companion website Generative AI for Economic Research, for more useful tips on enhancing your research with the power of generative AI.
Improving access to cutting-edge research in low- and middle-income countries
Also be sure to explore Ungated Research, which Martin Abel presented at the end of this session. This website provides two main services:
- Assemble and provide access to all publicly available working papers for research in leading economics journals in one place.
- Provide AI-generated non-technical summaries of research for these papers.