Research for Writers: AI as a Research Assistant

**Who this is for:**

Anyone who is curious about AI, including people who have not used AI. No technical background assumed.

**What we’ll cover:**

• **What AI actually is** (simply explained) and why it’s not a search engine
• **Where it genuinely helps:** getting oriented in an unfamiliar subject, plain-language explanations, suggesting angles and search terms you had not considered, translating jargon
• **When it’s unreliable: **invented facts and citations, out-of-date information, no access to specialist or paywalled sources, and confident assertion of wrong information
• **How to ask AI to help you: **a conversation rather than a search query, and how to get better answers by not accepting weak ones
• **Verifying what it gives you** before you use its information in your writing

**What you’ll leave with:**

The ability to use AI as a fast and genuinely useful first step – and the judgement to know the point at which to stop trusting it.

**This workshop is part of a 5-part series; you can attend one or all five. These five workshops are as follows:**

1. Finding Facts in a Flash - 6th January 2027
2. AI as a Research Assistant - 13th January 2027
3. Going Deeper into Research - 10th February 2027
4. Nonfiction Research into the Past - 17th February 2027
5. Historical Research for Fiction Writers - 24th February 2027

**Join individual sessions for £15 each, or save by booking the complete bundle for £60! **Joining late? No problem -purchasing the bundle grants you instant access to recordings of any sessions you’ve missed.

**Writers Online Members **are eligible for a discount on all webinars, and will be sent their discount prior to the masterclass. Not a member? Become one today, and join our community of thousands of passionate writers.