AI models like ChatGPT were not designed to be search engines so while they can sometimes be helpful in summarizing a topic they aren't the best tool for finding information. Another limitation of many free versions of AI tools is that they have a cutoff date for their training data sets and therefore may not have the most current information on any given topic.
We recommend using library search tools, a web search engine, Wikipedia, or mainstream news sites when you're looking for information. If you need help finding information, you can always ask a librarian for help in person or on chat.
If you do find information through ChatGPT or other similar tools you should plan to taking some additional steps to verify the information you find. Some AI models will provide links to their sources, like Microsoft Copilot, Perplexity, or Google Gemini. If the links are provided, click the links and make your own determination if the AI is accurately representing the information on the original source. For AI models that do not provide links to their sources, like ChatGPT, you will need to do an additional search of the web or library resources.
