Going back to school this year involves discussions of AI tools as much as it does which highlighters and day planning apps to buy. Everyone is worried about ChatGPT and its rivals in education as evidence piles up that the percentage of students employing AI in some form is on the rise.
The obvious issues are how students might use it to circumvent actually learning or doing any work. I’m not naive that that sort of cheating and unethical AI use happens in schools. But that doesn’t mean ChatGPT can’t be a great tool for learning. You can use ChatGPT to stretch your brain, not turn it off.
The new Study Mode in ChatGPT is a great way to use ChatGPT to learn a subject, but what if you just want its help without it acting like a tutor? Here are five ways ChatGPT can help you study for exams.
1. ChatGPT Quizmaster
Tests are always part of taking a class, and have only become more important as teachers grow wary of students using AI tools to write papers for them. Sometimes the best way to study for a test is to take some practice quizzes. Happily, ChatGPT can make a near infinite number of quizzes on any topic you care to name.
Say you have a test on osmosis in organisms or the Treaty of Versailles. Ask ChatGPT to write you a five-question quiz of increasing difficulty that can determine whether I actually understand the topic. It will rapidly oblige you. ChatGPT can even grade your written answers, not just multiple choice. You can ask for a new quiz on the topic whenever you want, so that by the time the real test comes along, it should seem effortless
2. Academic translation
Sometimes you can take great notes in class only to have them seem like nonsense hours later when you’re studying. Those keywords you wrote down use academic language that you might have confused with a similar concept. Drop a teacher’s quote or a concept into ChatGPT and ask it to explain it in simpler terms, and you’ll have a helpful interpreter.
If your sociology professor springs a paper on you filled with references to “normative institutional frameworks,” you can ask ChatGPT to put the phrase in more standard language and hear about how, “It’s about what people think is ‘normal’ in big organizations.” Suddenly, you have ideas for the essay. I’d recommend first trying to explain it yourself, then check how your version compares to what ChatGPT said.
You can even ask for analogies or metaphors to further explain it. If it tells you that “normative frameworks” are like the unwritten rules of the lunch table in middle school, suddenly it’s relatable.
3. Idea fountain
There’s valid concern about students using ChatGPT to write their essays, but I think brainstorming and refining ideas with AI is fair and a good way to stimulate your thinking, not shut it down. If you’re in an ecology class and need to write about how climate change impacts some aspect of society, you might ask ChatGPT for different places and aspects of life that might be affected and land on small island economies. It’s not handing you a paper. It’s knocking the rust off your thoughts.
The real power here is in the weird ideas. Ask it for the unconventional. The provocative. The ones your professor wouldn’t expect but might secretly love. Sometimes it throws out pure nonsense. Sometimes it gives you a diamond. You won’t know until you dig. And once you’ve got a direction, you can ask about sources that might or push back against your view. It won’t do the research for you, but it will make sure you aren’t staring at a blank screen forever.
4. Linguistic pals
Language classes are at their best when you are actually conversing with someone. That’s hard to do when you are alone. But, if you want to hone your linguistic skills for the next Spanish class, ChatGPT can help.
You can write anything in the language you’re learning from a pretend email to a dialogue in a bakery. Then you ask ChatGPT to correct your grammar, point out awkward phrasing, and explain what you messed up. You can then extend it to roleplaying to better learn.
Just ask ChatGPT to “pretend you’re a French friend asking about my summer. Ask me one question at a time.” You reply to the questions, and the AI will correct as needed and continue the conversation. You might not be fluent overnight, but you’ll at least be comfortable when a pop quiz comes up.
5. Ethical AI in class
The real trick to using ChatGPT for studying isn’t about the prompts you type in. It’s about what you do with the responses. You have to engage with it and apply it to more traditional studying methods. If you’re outsourcing the whole thing, you’re playing a game that only ends with you losing out.
But if you use ChatGPT like a springboard to better understand a topic, as a practice partner or critic, then you’re not giving up on learning; you’re going to really understand what you’re studying. Obviously, respect your school’s rules. If your professor says “no AI,” then it’s a hard no. But if you’re in the clear and you’re using it with integrity and the intention of learning, not cheating, ChatGPT can make you a better student.
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erichs211@gmail.com (Eric Hal Schwartz)
