A note about quality of questions and quality of AI answers: for dissertation project students

A note about quality of questions and quality of AI answers: for MBA and Housing Studies dissertation project students (information from perplexity.ai)

My question: "Do asking "crude", "simplistic" and "uninformed" questions by the researcher-student lead to generative AI tools (notably perplexity.ai) giving poor-quality answers in the context of MBA and Housing Studies dissertation project works?"

The reply: "Asking "crude," "simplistic," and "uninformed" questions by a researcher-student can lead generative AI tools like Perplexity.ai to give poor-quality answers, especially in the context of MBA and Housing Studies dissertation projects. This is because the quality of AI-generated responses heavily depends on the quality and specificity of the input prompts. Vague or poorly formulated questions tend to yield vague or shallow answers, lacking depth, critical insight, and academic rigor.

Generative AI tools excel at summarizing information rapidly but struggle with nuanced synthesis, critical judgment, and contextual understanding essential for high-level academic work. For example, Perplexity AI can quickly map a field but cannot replace a scholar's role in critically evaluating and connecting research findings. Poorly framed prompts fail to guide the AI toward precise, well-researched outputs, often resulting in generic or disconnected facts without intellectual depth. This limits the usefulness of AI-generated content for complex dissertation work where critical analysis and methodological accuracy are paramount.

Moreover, studies show generative AI can hallucinate facts, fabricate references, or present inaccurate data, making it crucial that students have the expertise to critically assess AI outputs. If students ask simplistic or uninformed questions, they risk receiving outputs with errors or insufficient academic quality, which can mislead and degrade the quality of the dissertation work if not carefully reviewed and supplemented by the student.

In sum, to avoid poor-quality AI answers in MBA and Housing Studies research, students must craft well-informed, detailed, and contextually grounded questions and actively engage in validating and synthesizing AI-generated information themselves. The AI is a tool to assist discovery, not replace critical academic judgment or research expertise."

A collection of blog notes on using chatgpt for research purpose.