Consensus AI: Could It Be A Game Changer In Research?

Why is it that every AI tool constantly fails to prove itself as the number one tool for research? You must have asked yourself this question at least once, right? Well, as unfortunate as it is, we are in that stage of evolution where AI is somewhere between helpful and helpless when it comes to research usefulness. On one hand, we have tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, etc. that have succeeded at different areas of research but have failed at others. Could there be a free or cheap AI that researchers can use these days? Well, we think there might just be an answer to this question right here! There is this AI tool called Consensus AI, which was launched in September 2022. It has some features that might just make it the best AI tool for research in 2025. Let’s see what Consensus AI is and how it is useful in academic research.

What Is Consensus AI?

For starters, Consensus AI is an innovative search engine that uses the capabilities of large language models (LLMs) and other artificial intelligence tools to help you specifically with academic research. Most often, Consensus is used for academic literature synthesis, as it can quickly extract verified, evidence-based information from a vast library of peer-reviewed literature.

We’ll get to the features of Consensus AI in a while, but it is important to note that it is most helpful when it comes to drafting literature reviews. Normally, it would take you weeks or months to write a comprehensive literature review, but not anymore. However, other features make Consensus one of the best AI for research in 2025. Let’s see what these features really are!

What are the Features of Consensus AI?

Although Consensus is more of a search engine rather than a traditional LLM, it does have capabilities far beyond what an average search engine can do. Here, we will discuss some of the most notable features of Consensus AI that make it one of the most reliable AIs in scientific research as of the current day.

1) Instant Consensus Meter:-

This is essentially the selling point of Consensus AI and its signature feature. What it does is that it displays a visual meter that summarizes the findings of multiple papers that corroborate or disagree with your question. It works better if you ask a ‘yes/no’ question, and you’ll see how many papers answer ‘yes’ and how many answer ‘no.’

2) AI-Powered Synthesis and Summarization:-

Consensus uses the power of high-level LLMs to deeply analyze the aggregated literature concerning a particular topic. This alone makes it one of the best AI for research, as its capability in producing high-quality literature reviews is almost unparalleled.

3) Foundational Research Filter:-

This feature allows you to sort the most impactful, relevant, and methodologically sound research so that you can find the best information possible. It also allows you to sort works of research according to very specific parameters, which enables you to find academic research that is the closest to your project.

4) Semantic Scholar Integration and Source Verification:-

Consensus has this unique feature, which ensures that the quality of the output is directly related to the quality of the input data. Also, Consensus is linked to vast repositories of data, including the Semantic Scholar database. Plus, Consensus gives a score that gives you an idea of the reliability of each source, making Consensus one of the most reliable AI in scientific research.

5) Custom Filters and Research Criteria:-

 Lastly, Consensus allows you to use academic-specific filters that enable you to narrow down your search and find more precise information. You can filter by ‘study type,’ ‘publication date,’ ‘journal quality,’ and even the number of citations.

How Is Consensus AI Good For Research?

As you have already seen, Consensus brings some really unique features to the table, and if that wasn’t good enough, you’ll soon learn how Consensus can help you in research. There are different ways that you can use Consensus AI in scientific research, and we will go through all of them in this section.

a) Accelerates the Literature Review Process:-

The most acclaimed quality of Consensus AI is the fact that it drastically reduces the time you would normally spend on drafting a literature review. Even the free version of Consensus is remarkably good at drafting literature reviews, as it has access to papers locked behind a paywall.

b) Enhances the Objectivity and Trustworthiness of Findings:-

Consensus has access to nearly all peer-reviewed literature that would be of use to you. Considering its consensus meter and foundational research filter, it will only provide you with the most trustworthy and foundational papers for your research. This is one of the reasons why the role of Consensus AI in scientific research is growing steadily, rivaling even ChatGPT at times.

c) Simplifies Complex Scientific Domains:-

 If you are new to a specific field and don’t know where to start looking for information, Consensus AI is here for you! It will instantly summarize the key methodologies and conclusions from multiple papers and allow you to grasp the most relevant knowledge relatively easily.

d) Improves Research Methodology:-

Lastly, its filter allows you to prioritize the best evidence, which is essential for evidence-based research. The ease of streamlining methodologies makes it seem like the future of research is looking better with each passing day.

Tests of Consensus AI’s Capabilities

To see how good Consensus AI is, we decided to run a few tests to check its capabilities. Interestingly, it mostly gave us exactly what we wanted. In this section, we will discuss the tests we conducted to see whether Consensus is the perfect AI for research, or if it will simply be known as one of the ‘developing’ AI tools that make the future of research seem bleak.

• To check its consensus meter’s capabilities, we asked the AI a simple question: ‘Do antioxidant supplements extend lifespan in healthy adults?’ The meter showed a 50-50 result, with one half being a hard ‘no’ and the other half being ‘probably.’

There were also two other criteria, which were ‘yes’ and ‘mixed.’ Oh, and the AI also gave us a short answer: ‘No, antioxidant supplements do not extend lifespan in healthy adults, and may even pose risks in well-nourished populations.’

• Next, we decided to test one of the really cool features that makes Consensus one of the best AI for research in 2025. Well, you see, Consensus allows its users to use its ‘Pro’ and ‘Deep Search’ versions for free, albeit for a limited number of trials. We did just that. We asked the question: ‘Compare CRISPR-Cas12a and Cas9 for gene editing.’ You’d be shocked to realize how good the results were.

It identified over a thousand papers, 1318 to be exact, and screened 533 of them. In the end, it included information from 50 different papers in its answer. If that wasn’t good enough, it also shows you how many papers were eligible for the test, and it also allows you to access those papers by yourself.

Final Verdict: Is Consensus AI Good for Academic Research?

In the end, it can be said that Consensus AI is a really helpful tool for generating literature reviews, probably the most helpful AI tool at the moment. What’s even better is that you can use it for free, and the free version is still remarkably better than the majority of general-purpose LLMs when it comes to research usefulness. However, there are still some things we need to keep in mind.

Consensus still cannot access the in-depth content of several paywalled papers and only relies on the available abstracts. As you can tell, this is not looking very good if you want to find absolutely accurate information. However, you can pay about $10 or $15 for the pro version. This lets you access more in-depth information to help you in academic research.

The ‘deep plan’ is also notoriously expensive; at around $45 to $65 per month, it is a pretty expensive but helpful tool. One of the main issues with Consensus is that it kind of isn’t very helpful in navigating information in niche fields. Because it has access to peer-reviewed papers, it does have a slight limitation when it comes to finding sources for niche areas of information.

Conclusion

At last, all we can say is that Consensus AI is one of the best free AI tools that you can use right now. It is great for literature reviews; it provides a measurable metric that allows you to see how many papers/authors agree with your work, and it lets you browse through endless sources. Safe to say that the future of research seems to be brighter with tools like Consensus AI taking the lead in research innovation. Once again, we would like to remind you that AI as a whole is still in the development stage, so it cannot be relied upon blindly. If you want to learn more about leveraging AI for research,  then feel free to contact India Assignment Help, and our AI experts will help you do just that!