Claude 3.5 for Paper Summaries is a Game Changer
I used to spend a lot of time reading papers, but when I put a PDF into Claude 3.5 Sonnet and asked for a summary, it pulled out just the key points. I especially appreciate how well it reads formulas and data tables, making it quite reliable. That said, it does have some limitations. It sometimes misses very detailed content, and for the latest papers (post-2024), there are a few errors, likely because they're not in the training data. What AI tools do others use for summarizing papers?
6 answers
I also use Claude 3.5 a lot for summarizing papers, and it really is a game-changer. In the past, I used to just skim the Abstract and move on, but now I can quickly grasp the Method and Result sections too. However, as you mentioned, it sometimes misses details, so for important papers, I think it's essential to read and verify them directly.
I alternate between Claude and Notion AI. Claude is strong at summarization, while Notion AI is good at organizing the overall structure of papers. But both have clear limitations with papers from 2024 onwards, so sometimes it's just easier to read them directly lol.
Do large PDF papers work well too? I often find that when I upload papers over 30 pages, it gets cut off midway. Or would it be better to split them by chapter and make separate requests?
I'd also recommend Google's NotebookLM. When you upload a PDF, it automatically summarizes it and provides source-based answers, making it highly reliable. It seems to handle recent papers a bit better than Claude? However, the Korean language support is somewhat lacking.
Wow, same experience! I was especially amazed at how well it captures the key points the author emphasizes in the Discussion section. But we have to acknowledge the limitations too. I use it by checking Claude's summary and then cross-referencing only the suspicious parts in the original text. It feels like it saves about 70% of my time.
I switched from ChatGPT Plus to Claude for summarizing papers, and Claude is definitely better at interpreting data tables. Especially for engineering papers with lots of formulas, Claude seems to read them more accurately. I also run into the issue with recent papers, but I compensate by just pasting the arXiv link.