No, this text is not written by an AI, although it is in fashion to outsource much of the content produced on the web to some generative AI. Clever and, above all, effective. Moreover, our AI assistants are already so good at creating content that we’ve already lost in many areas.
So why am I writing it myself?
For exactly the same reason that people still play chess, paint, take photographs or make music, even though our machine friends have already passed us by. The end result is not the only thing that matters, but in the actual act of doing and focusing on a challenging task, you can find enormous meaning and joy. Moreover, effort is the only way to learn and grow as a person.
I must admit, however, that ChatGPT has been a conversation partner of mine at the time of writing, which I have used for example to search for information. It is precisely for this type of use that it is a superior tool that does not destroy learning but actually improves it.
In this article we will go through:
- What is AI and how does it help your learning?
- Why individual learning and effort is still important and what skills are worth developing in the age of AI?
- How generative AI can be applied to support your own learning and development?
What does AI have to do with learning?
In everyday language, AI is now identified with generative AIs, whose main purpose is to produce content such as text, images, videos or music based on prompts. Its raw materials are all the previous content that the AI has analyzed. From there, it generates new content according to its own rules. AI is mostly a self-correcting and self-evolving system with learning at its core. No previous technology has been able to do this autonomously, so we live in exciting and even revolutionary times.
It is worth bearing in mind that AI has been developed for decades and is an essential part of a wide range of technologies and software, such as social media algorithms, language translators or self-driving vehicles. However, it is generative AIs that have now been in the spotlight, and it is these that we focus on here. For example, ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot or Dall-E are all generative AI applications that can be used to support individual learning in many interesting ways.
Artificial intelligence has made a breakthrough in the world of learning, as in everything else. Searching for information, making summaries, simplifying things or finding a conversation partner in a foreign language has never been easier. It would be foolish to oppose this development, but rather to harness the potential of AI to support learning. There can easily be a strong temptation to outsource the process entirely to AI and have this tireless workhorse write essays for us or do our maths homework for us when we are not motivated.
However, it is worth remembering that simply doing something is not learning. Sometimes, of course, motivation is purely external and you need to be able to prioritize things, which makes completion more important. It may be, for example, that completing a single compulsory course helps you to progress to subjects that are more relevant or meaningful to you. In this case, you have to be sure that the subject is not worth learning. In this case, it is therefore worth making use of all the tools available to you to improve your performance. Remember that plagiarism and cheating are always bad decisions and are not part of the toolbox for effective work, no matter how urgent to get the job done.
But hopefully most of the time you will be working on subjects that you are genuinely interested in and internally motivated. In this case, there shouldn’t be any pressure to outsource your learning process entirely to AI. Learning inspires you, and in the end, it doesn’t matter whether the knowledge you learn is needed anywhere or whether it contributes to your external goals.
Learning itself is the ultimate purpose. As we constantly learn and grow as human beings, we also expand the horizon of possibilities before us. So learning is not dead in the age of artificial intelligence, but there are unprecedented opportunities for it.
Moreover, learning itself is one of our most deeply satisfying and meaningful experiences. So why give it up voluntarily?
Develop these skills to benefit from new technologies as part of your learning
So what meta-skills and abilities should be acquired to make AI the best possible learning partner?
1 - General knowledge and critical thinking
It is common to hear a student in a general education institution (e.g. upper secondary school) complain that he or she will not need, for example, chemistry or philosophy for anything in life.
It may not be easy to find a direct application for everyday life, but it is always a good idea to increase your general knowledge and skills. In today’s ever-changing world of work, generalists who have acquired a broad range of skills will do better than learners with a narrow focus on a single subject.
Technology, the information explosion and artificial intelligence have created an environment where broad and multidisciplinary skills are the trump cards. Even if you can get all the answers just by asking, you can’t ask the right questions without a comprehensive foundation of knowledge. The knowledge you acquire will also remain disconnected from everything else if you have not built up a solid base of understanding to which new knowledge can be integrated.
Not all knowledge and information are of equal value either. We have entered an era where unimaginable amounts of content are being produced and the attention of users of digital services is being competed for by any means permitted (and not permitted). As a result, there is no escaping disinformation, disinformation and manipulation. Without comprehensive general knowledge, it is impossible to be critical and to recognize when one is being misinformed or influenced.
General knowledge and generic skills are not dead. We need them now more than ever. Even if you get all the answers in a flash, you still need to be able to ask the right questions, prioritize answers and integrate knowledge with what you have learned.
2 - Technological skills and adaptability
In 2001, Marc Prensky defined people born and raised in the digital age as digital natives who have already acquired technological skills as part of their upbringing and exposure to all forms of technology.
However, the concept has since been criticized, as it has been recognized that the new generations are far from being more advanced digital wizards than their parents. Certainly, increasing exposure to technology has led to younger generations adopting new services and devices at an accelerating pace, but that in itself does not make them experts, but rather high consumers.
Most of us are not able to distinguish very precisely what’s inside a computer, how a mobile app is built, which are the most popular coding languages today, what logic AI uses or what a blockchain is.
Technology skills have become one of today’s biggest competitive advantages, and there are not many jobs that can be done without some form of technological and digital skills. Most of the basic competencies are relatively easy to learn, but many people still don’t make the effort and fall behind right from the start.
It is perfectly understandable to experience anxiety in the midst of high-speed development. It doesn’t seem humanly possible to keep up and embrace new technologies at the pace required. However, the best cure for this anxiety is to be merciful to yourself and expose yourself to learning new things one step at a time. You don’t have to learn to code or become a deep expert in AI. All you need to do is open ChatGPT and create an account. Then feel free to try out the prompts and see what kind of responses you get. Increase your exposure by reflecting on different areas of your life and test whether AI could help you manage them. For example:
- Make me a cleaning list for a major clean of the whole apartment
- Give me ideas for varied salads
- Please proofread this email and make it more polite
- Make me a list of 10 key points from the life of Julius Caesar
You’ll soon discover the kinds of tasks that AI can help you with, and the things you should still do yourself.
3 - Ethical and social skills
Thirdly, but by no means least importantly, you should constantly develop your social and ethical skills. This may seem counterintuitive as social life moves increasingly to digital networks and remote connections.
Yet it is precisely for this reason that a genuine human encounter and a solid human value base are now more precious than ever. AI will soon surpass humans in almost all cognitive skills and can solve problems that are challenging for humans to even define.
But it cannot replace genuine human contact and a sense of community-based values. Moreover, we are living in times when shared values such as democracy, equality and freedom are being challenged more strongly than they have been for decades. We urgently need people and communities whose values are based on common and human goals. We need people who use technology to promote and achieve these goals, not for selfish and destructive ends.
So keep asking yourself: what is right? Not just for yourself, but for others? Often the answer lies in helping each other and in common goals.
How to use AI as a learning tool
As mentioned, AI is a tremendously useful helper or support, but you should not outsource thinking and learning to it. Here, we will briefly go through some ideas on how to use AI as a learning tool. If you want to go deeper into the topic, I recommend you check out our lessons where we go through it and other learning-related topics, from theory to practice.
In the following examples, when we talk about AI, we refer to the most common generative AIs such as ChatGPT, DeepSeek or Gemini.
Detailed questions and answers
Learning is always about combining new knowledge with what you have already learned. Through repetition, repetition and practice, the neural networks and connections between brain cells are strengthened, allowing for faster recall and application of knowledge.
One of the best ways to learn is to ask specific questions about the topic and even try to answer them before you get a ready answer. Similarly, switching roles, i.e. answering questions, is a great way to activate the learning in the brain. Teachers don’t just ask students about a topic or set tests to test what they’ve learned out of sheer mischievousness.
It used to be that you needed another person to help you with questions and answers, but that’s no longer the case. You can simply ask the AI to quiz you or ask for clarification on things you don’t yet know.
Example: Ask me five key questions about the French Revolution, but don’t reveal the answers yet.
First answer the questions either by writing or by mind and then ask the AI to reveal the answers.
Summarising and simplifying the topic
If you can explain a complex issue in a simple version, you’re good at it. But often, in the early stages of learning, we need this simpler version ourselves to be able to integrate the new information with our previous experience.
AI is a great simplifier and summariser. However, always try to repeat the AI’s summaries yourself. Otherwise, you’ll just be passively receiving information, but not actually doing anything with it actively yet. Deeper learning almost always requires working on or applying what you have learned in some way.
Example: Explain the concept of correlation as simply as possible.
Read the answer first and ask for clarification or examples if necessary. Then try to explain it yourself, either out loud or in writing. Note that the AI can also listen to what you say and you can ask for feedback on your summary.
Practicing a foreign language
Artificial intelligence is nowadays applicable to almost all the best methods for learning a language. You can ask it for word tests, grammar rules, grammar translation exercises or even use it as a conversation partner, always ready to help you and correct your mistakes. Again, remember to develop tasks that force you to work actively.
Example: Would you do a 10-word word test on words related to artificial intelligence? Give me the words in English, then it’s my job to write them one by one in French. Check the spelling.
After you have finished writing, you can recite all the words out loud and ask for feedback on your pronunciation.
Mathematics
Generative AIs have an excellent command of mathematics and statistics, although at the time of writing they still sometimes make mistakes in certain verbal tasks that require logical reasoning.
It can be tempting to outsource your tasks entirely to AI, but as you already know, you won’t learn anything that way. Instead, AI can be invaluable when you’re stuck or can’t figure out why you’re not getting the right result. It can explain things endlessly in ever simpler terms and will happily walk you through the calculation step by step.
Example: Could you solve the equation 2X + 15 = 4X - 7 step by step? Then give me a problem of a similar level so that I can practise on my own.
Again, you will see that we used AI to explain the issue at first, but we immediately moved on to actively practicing ourselves and not just passively receiving information.
Finally
We’re just scratching the surface here of the numerous ways in which AI can help you learn. It’s a great tool for everything from everyday learning to big projects like writing a thesis or a large essay.
Of course, the cynics will say that this is cheating and that lazy learners no longer do anything themselves. There is a real threat, but at the same time ,we must bear in mind that similar fears were also expressed when the internet, television, printing, calculators or bead-boards became widely available.
Calculators, for example, have made it possible to practice increasingly complex mathematics without spending all your time on long and tedious calculations. Similarly, the internet has made it possible for learners working on essays not to spend hours wandering the library corridors looking for the right sources for their work.
AI is one tool among others. But it is enormously powerful and, above all, intelligent. It is up to us and our values to decide how we use its enormous potential.
You’ll find a wealth of additional information on AI, learning, concentration, memory and productivity in our lessons. Why not start now?