Always check and follow your local guidelines about whether this use of generative AI is permitted. If it is permitted, you may need to acknowledge the use of AI
Always make sure if you're adapting generative AI text for a methods or results section, that the wording is accurate.
Always check that data analyses are accurate and reproducible.
Accuracy and validity are critical in scientific reports, so you need to ensure that your work meets these high standards.
It's critical to develop your own scientific writing and analytical skills, and understand the underlying scientific principles yourself.
Always start by thoroughly reviewing your own experimental data and notes before consulting AI. Similarly, when engaging with literature, start by performing your own searches.
Instead of asking AI for help with entire sections, try to use AI for more targeted assistance like suggesting ways to describe a certain method or interpret a specific result.
Generative AI can help generate a checklist for what is usually included in each section to ensure you're including everything that's required. Ensure you check with any instructions provided by your teachers.
Generative AI can help express methodology and methods as an assistant to you. Clearer communication of the methods can increase the reproducibility of your experiments.
Always cross-check AI-generated information with your actual data and reliable scientific sources.
Looking for literature sources and summarising sources can help you find resources for background information.
Conducting data analysis is an important part of many lab reports.
Proofreading your work is an important step to developing an clear lab report.
Understanding the marking rubric can be extremely useful to meet the specific requirements of your lab report.
Case studies have some overlapping techniques used by lab reports, make sure to look here for extra ideas.
Some additional prompts that you might use to have AI help but not replace you include:
"What are some key points to include in the introduction for an experiment on [topic]?"
"Can you suggest a clear way to describe this experimental procedure: [your procedure]?"
"How might I interpret these results in the context of [relevant theory or previous studies]?"