Using AI cautiously in historical research

Can AI be used to conduct historical research?

It can assist with summaries and orientation, but every claim and citation must be independently checked because AI can invent convincing sources.

The answer allows a role for AI in summarising and orienting research but warns that confident prose is not evidence of accuracy. A researcher still needs to know which databases underlie an answer, how current they are, and whether they are relevant to the question. A classroom example describes essays that cited a historian and book that did not exist. A simple independent search exposed the fabricated reference. AI can assist research, but its claims and citations must be checked against real sources.