A curated selection of generative AI tools across text, search, coding, image, audio, and video, plus tools aimed specifically at research.
Context, source notes and disclosure
This page was created with assistance from ChatGPT and Claude, primarily for language refinement, organization, and structural improvements.
Inclusion does not constitute endorsement. Evaluate each tool's suitability for your own needs and stay informed about emerging alternatives.
Note: Tool availability, features, naming, and pricing change frequently. URLs and descriptions reflect the state of the tools at last review. Some tools listed may have been renamed, merged, discontinued, or substantially changed since then.
This resource is a work in progress. Comments welcome.
Last updated: June 2026
General-purpose AI assistants (if you are just getting started, you do not need to read beyond this section)
The major multimodal platforms. Most now handle text, code, image generation, and web search to varying degrees.
ChatGPT (OpenAI): https://chat.openai.com
Claude (Anthropic): https://claude.ai - Also available as Cowork (https://claude.com/product/cowork), Anthropic's desktop workspace for tasks on local files and tools.
Copilot (Microsoft): https://copilot.microsoft.com
Gemini (Google): https://gemini.google.com - Recently also added music generation.
Meta AI (Meta, powered by Llama): https://www.meta.ai
Le Chat (Mistral AI): https://chat.mistral.ai
DeepSeek (DeepSeek): https://chat.deepseek.com
Grok (xAI): https://grok.com
HuggingChat (Hugging Face): https://huggingface.co/chat - Open-source alternative offering access to various models.
Poe (Quora): https://poe.com - Aggregator offering access to multiple LLMs including ChatGPT, Claude, and others.
Search and research tools
Tools designed for finding, synthesizing, or reasoning over information - whether general knowledge, academic literature, or domain-specific evidence.
Perplexity AI: https://www.perplexity.ai - Search engine with source transparency and citation. It offers an academic filter/search mode for prioritizing scholarly sources.
NotebookLM (Google): https://notebooklm.google - AI research assistant for working with uploaded sources. Can also generate podcast-style audio summaries.
OpenEvidence (OpenEvidence): https://www.openevidence.com - Clinical decision support platform for verified physicians, grounding answers in peer-reviewed sources including NEJM and JAMA.
Google Scholar (Labs Search): https://scholar.google.com/scholar_labs/search - AI-powered search layer for Google Scholar that analyzes research questions, identifies key topics and relationships, and explains how each returned paper addresses the query. Experimental, with limited access.
Stanford Agentic Reviewer (Stanford ML Group): https://paperreview.ai - Free AI tool that provides rapid, structured feedback on research manuscripts, grounding reviews in the latest arXiv literature.
Coding and software development
Tools purpose-built for writing, reviewing, or managing code - from IDE integrations and terminal agents to autonomous coding assistants.
Claude Code (Anthropic): https://code.claude.com/docs/en/overview - Command-line tool for agentic coding, letting developers delegate tasks to Claude directly from the terminal.
Copilot (GitHub/OpenAI): https://copilot.github.com
Cursor (Cursor): https://www.cursor.com
Windsurf (Codeium): https://codeium.com/windsurf
Antigravity (Google): https://antigravity.google - Google’s agentic development platform.
Jules (Google): https://jules.google.com - Autonomous, asynchronous coding agent that integrates with GitHub to handle bugs, tests, and features in cloud VMs while you work on other things.
Stitch (Google): https://stitch.withgoogle.com - AI-native design canvas that turns natural language into high-fidelity UI designs and interactive prototypes, with export to developer tools.
Lovable (Lovable): https://lovable.dev
Replit (Replit): https://replit.com
Tabnine (Tabnine): https://www.tabnine.com
v0 (Vercel): https://v0.dev
Image generation
Specialized tools for creating images from text prompts or other inputs.
Firefly (Adobe): https://firefly.adobe.com
Flux AI (Black Forest Labs): https://flux-ai.io
Ideogram (Ideogram): https://ideogram.ai
ImageFX (Google): https://labs.google/fx/tools/image-fx
Midjourney (Midjourney): https://www.midjourney.com
Recraft (Recraft): https://www.recraft.ai
Stable Diffusion (Stability AI): https://dreamstudio.ai/generate - Open-source image generation model.
Visual Electric (Visual Electric): https://visualelectric.com
Audio and music generation
MusicFX (Google): https://labs.google/fx/tools/music-fx
MusicGen (Meta): https://about.fb.com/news/2023/08/audiocraft-generative-ai-for-music-and-audio
Stability Audio (Stability AI): https://stableaudio.com
Suno AI (Suno): https://suno.com
Udio (Udio): https://www.udio.com
Video generation
Dream Machine (Luma Labs): https://lumalabs.ai/dream-machine
Flow (Google): https://labs.google/fx/tools/flow
Kling AI (Kuaishou): https://klingai.com
Movie Gen (Meta): https://ai.meta.com/research/movie-gen
Pika (Pika): https://pika.art
Runway (Runway AI): https://runwayml.com
Sora (OpenAI): https://sora.com
Veo (Google): https://cloud.google.com/vertex-ai/generative-ai/docs/video/generate-videos
Model playgrounds and alternative access
These platforms let you explore and compare models from multiple providers.
Explore (Replicate): https://replicate.com/explore
Fal (Features and Labels): https://fal.ai
OpenRouter: https://openrouter.ai - Unified API and interface for accessing models from multiple providers.
Perplexity Labs (Perplexity AI): https://labs.perplexity.ai
Playground (OpenAI): https://platform.openai.com/playground
Playground (Vercel): https://sdk.vercel.ai
Research-Specific Resources
The following tools and references are particularly relevant for academic research. They can support literature discovery, data analysis, academic writing, and research workflows.
Tools
Connected Papers: https://www.connectedpapers.com - Visual tool for exploring academic paper networks.
Consensus: https://consensus.app - AI-powered search engine for research papers.
Elicit (Ought): https://elicit.org - AI research assistant for literature review and data extraction.
Humata (Tilda Technologies): https://www.humata.ai - Upload and query documents using AI.
Jenni AI (Altum Inc.): https://jenni.ai - AI writing assistant for academic work.
Litmaps (Litmaps Ltd.): https://www.litmaps.com - Literature mapping and discovery tool.
Paperpal (Cactus Communications): https://paperpal.com - Academic writing and editing assistant.
SciSpace (Typeset): https://typeset.io - AI tools for reading, understanding, and writing research papers.
scite.ai (scite): https://scite.ai - Smart citations showing how papers have been cited (supporting, contrasting, mentioning).
Guides, courses, and collections
Boussioux, L. (2025). Generative AI teaching and learning materials. https://sites.google.com/view/leonardboussioux/genai
Boussioux, L. (2024). Resources to learn more about (Gen)AI. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Hfpvr4A2NOw1NtO7YdwnM608oI0hxzVuX5xE7VWQhGs
Dell, M. (2024). Deep learning for economists. arXiv. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2407.15339
Dell, M. (2024). EconDL. https://econdl.github.io
HBS Baker Library (2024). Generative AI for MBAs. Harvard Business School. https://www.hbs.edu/it/elearning/public/baker/generative-ai-for-mbas/index.html
Hendriksen, C. (2023). ChatGPT and Bing: A practical guide for social science and management studies. https://docs.google.com/document/d/15CwNGJ9tPWJz826WYHd6ueVGIWN19UBGbqqKuARIm8o
Korinek, A. (2023). Generative AI for economic research: Use cases and implications for economists. Journal of Economic Literature, 61(4), 1281-1317. https://www.genaiforecon.org/JEL-2023-1736_published.pdf
Korinek, A. (2024). LLMs level up - Better, faster, cheaper. June 2024 update. https://www.genaiforecon.org/JEL-2024-June-LLMsLevelUp.pdf
Korinek, A. & Taliaferro, D. (2024). Generative AI for economic research. https://www.genaiforecon.org
Lastunen, J. (2024). AI for economists: Prompts & resources. https://sites.google.com/view/lastunen/ai-for-economists
van Quaquebeke, N. (2023). AI tools for research workflow in academia. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mb4SWtqyi1iEGCn2uTnHkPHqW3UoQr8b0xv5_81a-4Y