Manus AI Might Be the Most Powerful Tool for Researchers Yet

In this video, I take a deep dive into Manus AI, an emerging AI agent that promises to handle complex research tasks—from identifying gaps in literature to generating structured academic paper drafts. This isn’t just another chatbot.

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What sets Manus AI apart is its ability to plan, execute, and adapt through a sequence of actions, mimicking the way a human might approach a long-form research task. I wanted to understand whether it actually lives up to the hype, so I put it through a series of real academic workflows to find out.

I show you how I used Manus AI to analyze my own published papers, generate potential research directions, and even draft a peer-reviewed style article from nothing more than figures and captions. If you've ever wondered how to use Manus AI for serious research work, this video gives a clear, hands-on walkthrough—what worked, what didn’t, and where the limitations still exist.

The Manus AI demo includes tasks like generating a full literature review, mapping out paper structures, and executing research logic in the background—something very few AI tools can do well. And while it’s far from perfect, the way the Manus AI agent breaks down tasks and visualizes its thinking process is genuinely useful, especially for those of us working in academia or starting a PhD.

This isn’t just a Manus AI tutorial—it’s also a reflection on where agentic AI tools are headed and what that might mean for researchers in the near future. If you’re exploring the future of AI-powered research or considering tools that could reduce cognitive load and improve research productivity, this is one to watch. Let me know what you think, and if you've tried Manus AI, I’d love to hear how it's worked for you.

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▼ ▽ TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Intro
00:35 Manus AI
01:47 Can it Analyze Literature Gaps?
04:45 How it handles Literature Review
08:43 Creating Paper using Figures
14:08 Limitations
14:26 AI Image Generation
15:31 Common Bugs on Beta
16:59 Outro

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▼ ▽ Socials for shorts and reels

[charlesnardi]

I just keep thinking— AI will surely ‘replace’ many people, but tools like these in the hands of skilled individuals seem like a MASSIVE leveling up. A tool for those that have mastered their craft that makes things so much, faster, easier, better.

[GierlangBhaktiPutra]

I have tried this. I attached my raw data, asked it to analyse the data, conduct statistical test, request to produce graphics, and give me insights based on the data. The results are splendid. The statistical test and graphs, all at once, even compiled into a single doc. Some form of curation might be needed, but it is already amazing! The graphs are beautiful too! You can adjust the styling through the prompts.

[delldoesai]

Here is some things to be prepared for, as I have been on manus for research since it launched. If you do long research projects it will quickly absorb all your tokens and leave you with an complete task. Second, recently I had a scenario where it go through 80% of a longer project and then it self destructed and could finish. Manus was fast with customer service and refunded the tokens, but I still lost the major of that research which was about an hours worth of Manus working. I would break up any longer research into chunks.

[itziarartinanollorens]

In my case, I asked Manus to help me with a literature review, but as I started checking the sources, I found a lot of hallucinations. I thought it wasn’t supposed to have them, unlike ChatGPT, but it turns out it does.

[chrisogonas]

WOW, AI research tools just made research such a breeze! Incredible👍🏾

[Masviida]

As a PhD holder and professor, I have to admit that I feel threatened by these AI tools. As these tools enable individuals with less training or expertise to produce research and write articles. The academic landscape has changed

[kathyh]

7:25 105 pages? how is that helping me lol
also I didn't see any citations in that "literature review" text?? like even if they're listed at the bottom, I need them referenced in the text?

[ajthevillageidiot]

Kiwis reading the title be like: 'why would you want an AI of a Manus?'

[leijiang-pilot]

Love these AI tools from China like Manus AI and Powerdrill AI. Really want to try out Manus but don't know how to get the resource, lol.

[pharmclare]

Very enlightening insights thank you for sharing

[steffanjones]

Had to go back to the reference material section 08:03 because I thought it had used Wordsworth as a source!

[i.aliende]

Hi Andy, great video again! My head is about to implode with so many interesting tools... do you have a table or similar to know what tool is for what? Best!

[stefanielorimer]

how were the references? I thought they were very shallow when I tested in my field

[aakashsharma]

make on the usages of future house ai agents

[xyttra]

In creating a paper using figures, why does it give recommendations when it's the one writing the paper? Why not write the paper with those recommendations in mind?

[Shumukh]

Finally, I have been waiting for this. 👍❣️

[axelgamerboy]

What about references? Does it get through paywalls and analyse peer reviewed papers? Or do you need to feed papers? I guess for an SLR it would be quit handy if it can get all the papers behind paywalls.

[jimhackney]

We’ll have to take your word and the word of other YouTubers on how good it is because online influencers are about the only ones getting access to it.

[stealplow]

I have manus but roocode might actually better. I believe there's no barrier entry at roocode

[doder]

does it have access to all journals ? or can the user provide access ?