AI for Academics: LaTeX, Slides & Diagrams

Creating Presentations with Gamma

Gamma (gamma.app) is an AI-powered presentation tool that creates professional slides from a text prompt. It's perfect for thesis defenses, class presentations, and conference talks.

How to Use Gamma

1. Go to gamma.app and sign up (free tier available)
2. Click "New with AI" and choose "Presentation"
3. Describe your topic: e.g., "A thesis defense presentation on the impact of mobile money on small businesses in Ghana"
4. Choose a design theme and tone (Professional, Creative, Bold)
5. Gamma generates a complete slide deck — edit as needed
6. Export as PDF or PowerPoint

LaTeX with AI

LaTeX is the standard for academic papers, especially in STEM fields. AI can generate LaTeX code from plain English descriptions.

The LaTeX Prompt

Write the LaTeX article code for the above content.
Note: Don't output in canvas.
Simplify the code so a simple compiler can run it — nothing fancy.
Include:
- Title, author, abstract
- Proper section structure
- Bibliography with placeholder references
- Standard formatting

Compiling LaTeX

Use the LaTeXGPT Chrome Extension to compile LaTeX directly in your browser:

1. Install from Chrome Web Store: LaTeXGPT — Compile LaTeX from your browser (free)
2. Paste the generated LaTeX code
3. Click compile — get your PDF

Alternatively, use online compilers like overleaf.com (free for students), or install any chat-to-PDF extension to turn the chat output straight into a PDF.

Generating Slides with SciSpace

SciSpace (scispace.com) lets you explore research papers and generate summaries, explanations, and even presentation content from them. Search a paper, then ask SciSpace to draft slide bullet points you can drop into Gamma.

Worked Example: Building a Thesis Defense Deck

1. Plan the deck: note your department's required slides (title, problem, objectives, methodology, results, contribution).
2. Prompt Gamma: "Create a 15-slide thesis defense on 'The Impact of Mobile Money on Small Businesses in Ghana' for a KNUST faculty panel. Professional tone, use charts for results."
3. Fix the worst slides: Gamma drafts all slides at once — prioritize editing the results slides, which need your real data and figures, not placeholders.
4. Generate your diagrams: ask your AI for Mermaid code for your methodology flow and paste it into mermaid.live; screenshot the render into the deck.
5. Add speaker notes: in Gamma, open each slide's notes panel and paste a 30-second narration (the AI can write these for you: "Write speaker notes, under 50 words per slide, for a nervous presenter.")
6. Export: PDF for your supervisor, PowerPoint for final editing on the presentation machine.

Creating Diagrams & Flowcharts

Use AI to generate Mermaid diagram code:

Generate a Mermaid flowchart for the following process:
1. Student submits thesis via TDMS
2. System assigns internal and external examiners
3. Examiners review and submit reports
4. Supervisor reviews reports and provides feedback
5. Student makes revisions if needed
6. Graduate school approves for congregation

Then paste the Mermaid code into any Markdown renderer or mermaid.live to see the diagram. Mermaid supports flowcharts (graph TD), sequence diagrams (sequenceDiagram), class diagrams, and ER diagrams.

Diagram Types for Academic Work

Working with Overleaf

1. Create a free account at overleaf.com (students get a Pro trial with more compile time)
2. Click New Project → Blank Project or pick a thesis template
3. Paste your AI-generated code into main.tex
4. Click Recompile — the PDF updates live on the right
5. Add a bibliography with BibTeX (references.bib)

Presentation Design Rules (Thesis Defense)

• One idea per slide — max 6 bullets, max 30 words per slide
• Contrast — dark text on light background; never white on grey
• Visual hierarchy — one strong headline, supporting points below
• Data as charts — never paste a full results table into slides
• Consistent theme — pick one accent color and one font family
• Speaker notes — add narration in Gamma's notes panel, not on the slide

Common LaTeX Mistakes & Fixes

• Undefined control sequence — you used a package without importing it; add the correct \usepackage{...}
• "File not found" — the document refers to a file (e.g., an image) you haven't uploaded
• Missing $ around math — math symbols need $...$ inline or a \begin{equation} block
• Compile timeouts on Overleaf free — remove heavy packages or compile less often
• Messy spacing — add \usepackage{parskip} for clean paragraph breaks

Mathematical Typesetting with AI

LaTeX's math engine is why STEM academics use it. You don't need to memorize syntax — describe the equation and let the AI write it:

Write this equation in LaTeX:
"The sample standard deviation is the square root of the sum of
squared deviations from the mean, divided by n minus one."
Also write it as an inline symbol $...$ AND as a numbered display
equation with \begin{equation}.

Expected output (your AI will produce something equivalent):

\begin{equation}
s = \sqrt{\frac{\sum_{i=1}^{n}(x_i - \bar{x})^2}{n-1}}
\label{eq:sd}
\end{equation}

Tables & Figures Workflow

1. Ask the AI: "Generate a LaTeX table from this data: [PASTE DATA]. Use the booktabs style with \toprule/\midrule/\bottomrule and a \caption."
2. Add a reference: put \label{tab:results} under the caption, then write see Table \ref{tab:results} in your text — numbers stay correct automatically.
3. For figures, export your chart as PNG/PDF, upload it to Overleaf, and use:

\begin{figure}[h]
\centering
\includegraphics[width=0.8\textwidth]{results.png}
\caption{Results by treatment group.}
\label{fig:results}
\end{figure}

Ready-to-Use Template Library

Template 1: Complete LaTeX Article Skeleton

\documentclass[12pt,a4paper]{article}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{parskip}
\usepackage{hyperref}

\title{My Thesis Chapter Title}
\author{Kwame Asante \\ KNUST}
\date{\today}

\begin{document}

\maketitle
\tableofcontents

\section{Introduction}
Your introduction text here.

\section{Literature Review}
\subsection{Theoretical Framework}
Text here.

\section{Methodology}
Text here.

\section{Results}
\begin{table}[h]
\centering
\begin{tabular}{|l|l|}
\hline
Variable & Value \\
\hline
Sample size & 120 \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\caption{Descriptive statistics.}
\end{table}

\section{Discussion}
Text here.

\section{Conclusion}
Text here.

\begin{thebibliography}{9}
\bibitem{author2024}
Author, A. (2024). \emph{Title of the work}. Publisher.
\end{thebibliography}

\end{document}

Template 2: Mermaid Thesis Flowchart

graph TD
    A[Research Question] --> B[Literature Review]
    B --> C[Data Collection]
    C --> D[Analysis]
    D --> E{Hypothesis Supported?}
    E -->|Yes| F[Write Findings]
    E -->|No| G[Revise Model]
    G --> C
    F --> H[Discussion & Conclusion]

Template 3: Defense Presentation Outline

Create a 15-slide thesis defense presentation with Gamma on [TOPIC].
Structure:
1. Title slide
2. Research problem & questions
3. Objectives
4. Literature review highlights (3 slides)
5. Methodology
6. Results (3 slides)
7. Discussion
8. Limitations
9. Contribution to knowledge
10. Conclusion & recommendations
11. Thank you / Questions
Keep each slide under 30 words. Use charts for the results slides.

The Complete Academic Output Checklist

• Slide deck drafted — Gamma prompt written with audience & length
• Design rules applied — one idea per slide, contrast, hierarchy
• Speaker notes added — narration in the notes panel
• Deck exported — PDF for review, PPTX for editing
• LaTeX prompt used — "nothing fancy, compile with pdfLaTeX"
• Article skeleton pasted — title, sections, bibliography
• First compile passed — no undefined control sequences
• Overleaf project set up — main.tex + references.bib
• Tables formatted — tabular used, captions added
• Diagrams drawn — Mermaid flowchart for the process
• Diagrams exported — rendered and included in the paper
• References complete — BibTeX or thebibliography with DOIs
• PDF exported — final submission-ready document

Troubleshooting FAQ

• "Gamma made too many slides" — Edit the prompt: "exactly 12 slides," or delete slides in the editor before exporting.
• "LaTeX won't compile" — Paste the error line into your AI with "fix this LaTeX error and explain it."
• "My diagram renders with arrows on the wrong side" — In Mermaid, use A -->|Yes| B for labels on edges and check the direction letters (TD = top-down, LR = left-right).
• "Overleaf free times out on compile" — Remove heavy packages (like fullpage duplicates) and reduce the bibliography size.
• "Tables overflow the page" — Add \small inside the table environment or use tabularx with a width.
• "The PDF has no page numbers" — Add \pagestyle{plain} or \usepackage{fancyhdr}.
• "I can't edit the generated deck" — Export to PowerPoint and edit there, or ask Gamma to regenerate a section with a follow-up prompt.
• "My professor wants Word, not LaTeX" — Ask the AI: "Convert this LaTeX document into a clean Word-style outline with the same sections and citations." Keep the LaTeX as your source of truth and re-sync when you revise.

Extra Resources

• gamma.app — AI presentation builder (free tier)
• overleaf.com — free online LaTeX editor with hundreds of thesis templates
• mermaid.live — instant Mermaid diagram rendering
• LaTeXGPT Chrome Extension — compile LaTeX in the browser without an account
• Overleaf Templates Gallery — search "KNUST", "thesis", or your faculty for a ready-made format
• Detexify (detexify.kirelabs.org) — draw a math symbol with your mouse; it returns the LaTeX command
• Wikibooks: LaTeX — the free, complete LaTeX reference