How to use ChatGPT to summarize a book, article, or research paper
Sometimes it’s hard to get all your reading done, especially with ADHD diagnoses are on the rise. If you’re assigned to work on a project at school or work and you’re pressed for time (or concentration), artificial intelligence (WHO) chatbot alike ChatGPT can help summarize long articles, research papers, and books to make them a little more accessible.
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ChatGPT has come a long way since its launch in 2022, especially since it got its web browsing feature last spring. However, all AI chatbots can make mistakes — don’t rely entirely on ChatGPT’s summaries to understand text. Although ChatGPT currently provides quotes, they are not always accurate. Additionally, an AI system won’t interpret more abstract concepts or material the way a human mind can, meaning it won’t necessarily grasp certain topics or details.
Think of ChatGPT as a tool that can help make dense text more accessible. If you’re using it to support other parts of your work, such as writing, be careful — consider plagiarism And copyright issues surrounding these tools, it is not in your best interest to have a chatbot write your work for you.
If you are a student writing a research paper, someone who wants to explore a longer piece of writing, or want to delve into a complex topic, you can use ChatGPT to simplify the process.
How to create a summary using ChatGPT
What you will need: A device that can connect to the internet, free of charge (or pay) OpenAI account and basic understanding of the article, research paper, or book you want to summarize.
This process will take about one to three minutes.
If you need ChatGPT to help summarize an article or research paper, find the text online and keep it open in a separate tab. You can also try providing ChatGPT with just the book title and author by entering it in the text box.
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In the chat box, enter “Summary [book title].” For example: “Summary of Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman” or “Summary of this article: [URL].”
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Now ChatGPT can provide the source of the information it displaysYou can also ask for clarification on basic information about a topic. For example, if you’re writing about perception, you might prompt ChatGPT to “Explain how personal experiences impact perception and provide a quote.”
ChatGPT will respond with a number of bullet points and quotes, giving you a framework for the larger topic area and additional resources to learn from if you choose.
In my case, those citations were unlinked articles and books — I verified that the titles were real by Googling each title. If you want to skip that step, just ask ChatGPT to “provide citations with links” and you’ll only get sources you can click on to verify yourself.
If you’re having trouble understanding specific passages in an article, book, or research document, you can copy sections of text and paste them into ChatGPT, or even upload a photo.
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Think of this method as rearranging the words you’re reading to help you better understand the text at hand.
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This is the exact summary of Let People Misunderstand, an essay by Moeko Fujii that I read before.
Screenshot by Radhika Rajkumar/ZDNET
Review ChatGPT’s answers to ensure they are accurate to your understanding. For one of my queries, ChatGPT did not recognize that an article was an excerpt of a novel, instead responding that it was the novel itself.
ChatGPT told me: “’The Witches of El Paso’ is a novel by Luis Jaramillo, published on December 11, 2024. The novel was published on October 8 and the excerpt was published published in Public Workshop on December 11, but ChatGPT mistakenly listed that date as the novel’s publication date despite citing the article itself.
ChatGPT has a track record of fabricating sources. Once you’ve reviewed the chatbot’s response, be sure to check the sources it provides. Search for titles of articles or books to verify they are genuine, and click on linked articles if ChatGPT offers them. For one of the unlinked titles that ChatGPT provided me, the chatbot listed the book’s publication year as 2009, but I could only find editions dating back to 2012.
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While the other details are accurate, this is a useful reminder that ChatGPT still makes mistakes, or at least doesn’t always provide transparency about how it sources.
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ChatGPT fails to grasp that this article is an excerpt of a novel and not the novel itself. The novel was published on October 8 and the excerpt was posted on Public Seminar on December 11, but ChatGPT mistakenly recorded that date as the novel’s publication date.
Screenshot by Radhika Rajkumar/ZDNET
What are the limitations of ChatGPT?
If you’re using ChatGPT to summarize an article, book, or piece of research, remember that ChatGPT can still illusion information. Always check its output.
Also: 8 ways to reduce ChatGPT illusions
ChatGPT is a large language model that uses queues and millions of data points to mimic human responses. This form of imitation is why ChatGPT will answer questions even when it doesn’t give the correct answer. Make sure you do not use any information from ChatGPT without checking its authenticity.
Can ChatGPT summarize a PDF?
ChatGPT can now import file uploads in both the free and paid versions, you can upload a PDF file and have ChatGPT summarize it. The chatbot accurately summarized the press release I uploaded, formatting the key points of a tech company’s press release — even though it was only two pages long.
Also: Don’t trust ChatGPT Search and definitely verify anything it tells you
You can also try ChatPDF free, especially for longer documents. you can Summary of two PDF versions up to 120 pages per day and plans are available for $5 per month.
Can ChatGPT summarize an email thread?
Something like that. If you want to copy and paste each email, ChatGPT can summarize the content of the thread for you — but I don’t recommend that from a security standpoint. Emails may contain sensitive information, such as confidential work information or personally identifiable information, which you cannot guarantee will be secure if uploaded to OpenAI.
It’s more helpful to scan the email thread yourself and ask ChatGPT to help you write a response based on the key points you know about the conversation.
