Ohio University Libraries added a new artificial intelligence search engine to help students access and organize academic research more efficiently.
The tool, called Consensus, reviews more than 200 million peer-reviewed papers to summarize answers and visualize key information for users. The goal is to make academic research easier to conduct and understand.
Consensus became available through OU Libraries in mid-September. Its interface and functionality resemble Google Scholar, but the tool’s creators say it is powered by more advanced technology.
Eric Olson, CEO and co-founder of Consensus, said Google Scholar is a “basic experience” that only produces a list of links. Consensus, however, directly answers a user’s question, organizes sources and provides summarized findings with supporting quotes from academic papers.
“(Google Scholar) has the interface and the functionality, and the feature set is using old technology, not adapting to all of the cool things we can now do in this new world with AI models,” Olson said.
Hanna Schmillen, assistant dean for research and education services, said Consensus can recognize language association and is able to connect to other sources that may be related.
“The benefit with AI is that some of that language association is automatically tied into how the LLM (Large Language Model) is designed,” Schmillen said. “In theory, it should help if the training data actually does know to connect Calico to kitten to Siamese cat to feline.”
Robert Ross, dean of University Libraries, said the university spends about $5.5 million annually on content, much of it through subscriptions.
“The paywall is gone because we pay for it, but definitely there are things we just can't afford to buy,” Ross said.
With this, Ross and Olson are discussing possibly linking Consensus with Interlibrary Loan, which will allow students to request access to a source from another library. The user who requested the information would receive it via email.
Angel Solokha, a junior studying information graphics and publication design, said she had not heard of Consensus but believes AI can be useful for learning.
“It’s kind of surprising to me a little because I feel like (the university) would be against (AI), but I feel like everyone's using it, so I'm glad they're looking at that,” Solokha said.
Raymond Frost, a professor of analytics and information systems, also said he was unfamiliar with Consensus.
“In general, I am in favor of students using AI to enhance their research,” Frost wrote in an email.
Ross said the university is just beginning to promote the platform, and about 150 students have signed up so far. He said the library plans to continue increasing awareness of the resource.
“As a librarian, I feel good that if a student's using this, they're not going to get hallucinations, they're not going to get nonsense, they're going to get a high-quality answer, which is going to help them in their course,” Ross said.
Brie Stiscak, a sophomore studying marketing, said she’s generally skeptical of AI, though she sees value in learning how to use it responsibly.
“I think a lot of employers would value it if you know how to use (AI) correctly,” Stiscak said.
Olson said Consensus does not operate its own AI data centers. While the company uses generative technology, it functions as a search engine, not a generative model.
“That's not the business we're in,“ Olson said. "That's why we don't own any physical data center, so in terms of the actual impact of Consensus, pretty low in regard to the companies that we're all reading about. To be totally clear, though, we do use some of those models in our products and places. We are players in the system that are giving business to the companies that have the biggest negative impact.”
Looking ahead, Olson said he hopes to transition more features of Consensus to open-source models, which would reduce environmental impact and limit support for companies with large carbon footprints.
