Mastering the AI Era: A Student’s
Guide to Smart Learning Essay
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has evolved by leaps and bounds
in recent years, and the modern student needs all the help they can get in
order to consume and process the information they are being asked to nowadays.
With recent developments in the field of study regarding Artificial
Intelligence, students now have unprecedented opportunities to make their lives
easier, if only they knew how to use them. Here is a list of some valuable tips
and tricks on how to use Ai for educational purposes.
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The Mindset Shift: AI Co-Pilot or
Autopilot
The number one mistake of newbies who are interacting with
AI for the first time is to see it as cheating and “autopilot”. AI is NOT
cheating and it is NOT autopilot, it is a co-pilot, an all-powerful but understanding
tutor that is always with you and can assist you with anything and everything
Prompt Engineering
One thing to note regarding interacting with AI is that
prompt engineering is vital in asking for assistance. Here is a generic
template I like to use when asking for help from AI:
Role-Context-Task-Constraint. Here’s an example: I want the AI to explain to me
how memory allocation works in Python (more specifically, why memory is not
allocated when we append to a list). I would phrase my request in the following
manner:
“As an empathic but strict professor of data science, can
you please explain to me (context: I am an undergrad student with a basic
understanding of Python but little to no working knowledge of memory management
and loops) how memory allocation works in Python (task: explain the mechanism
of memory allocation when appending to a list) without giving me extensive code
examples (constraints: no more than ten lines of code; avoid using technical
terms)?”
The Power of AI for Techies
As a STEM student or a computer scientist, I can tell you
with great confidence that AI is a debugging god and an amazing logical
thinking assistant. However, when it comes to using AI for coding assignments,
the best practice is to NOT ask it to write the program for you entirely. There
are some great prompt engineering tactics you can use when debugging your code.
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Interactive Debugging Strategy
When your code is not working the way you want it to, ask
the AI to debug it for you. However, instead of asking it to fix your code, ask
it to tell you what you did wrong. You can also paste the error message your
code outputs and ask the AI to comment on it.
Another great prompt engineering tactic for STEM students is
something known as reverse-engineering. When you come across a particularly
confusing chunk of code or a database schema, copy a particular segment and ask
the AI to explain what it does. Another option is to ask it to go over it line
by line and describe the algorithm complexity of a particular segment in Big O
notation.
The Power of AI for Writing,
Research, Brainstorming
Many students experience writer’s block when they need to
write an essay, a research paper, or even a proposal. In situations like these,
AI can be an incredible brainstorming assistant. You can use it to come up with
elaborate outlines for your papers, proposals, and essays.
For instance, when you need to write a thesis paper on the
history of economics, ask the AI to come up with three different outlines for
your paper. Take the best parts from each outline and put them together to make
one amazing outline for your paper. Instead of wasting hours upon hours trying
to write hundreds of words without knowing where to start, simply use the power
of AI to help you come up with a general direction for your paper and then
write along those lines.
The Golden Rule of Research: Never trust AI to give you
citations, because generative AI often makes things up. For historical facts
and research, always go over AI’s information with primary sources.
Active Recall and Examination
One of the most popular and scientifically proven study
techniques one can use is active recall, a memorization technique based on
testing yourself on the information you have learned. You can use AI to conduct
active recall and help you prepare for your examinations, quizzes, and
midterms. For example, when you have finished studying a chapter of your
textbook, you can paste your study notes in the AI chatbot and type the
following prompt: “Based on the notes above, ask me five questions that would
help me memorize this chapter. Ask me one question, wait for me to answer,
comment on my answer, highlight the concepts I have failed to grasp, and rate
me out of ten before proceeding to the next question. This will help me prepare
for my exams.”
The Power of AI for Language
Learning and Soft Skills
Another powerful use of AI is language learning and soft
skills training. AI is a fantastic language companion and can help you improve
your language learning considerably. Ask it to have a conversation with you in
a foreign language. It will help you correct your grammar and pronunciation
mistakes. You can also use it to practice public speaking and hone your
presentation skills.
FAQs
Q1: Does using AI to
study constitute cheating or plagiarism?
It depends on your teacher’s or professor’s perspective.
Using AI to brainstorm, explain, and debug is acceptable, but you should never
use it to write essays, research papers, or code for your assignments.
Q2: How can I know
for sure the information I am given by AI is accurate?
It’s a good idea to always fact-check critical information,
double-check historical dates and facts, and confirm technical specifications
before using them.
Q3: Can AI help me
learn a foreign language or improve my soft skills?
Yes, AI is a
fantastic language-learning companion. Ask it to have a conversation with you
in a foreign language. It will help you correct your grammar and pronunciation
mistakes. You can also use it to practice public speaking and hone your
presentation skills.
Q4: What should I do
if I feel myself relying too heavily on AI?
A good rule of thumb
is the “first-draft rule”: always write your first drafts or outline your ideas
without the help of AI. After you have done that, use AI to double-check your
ideas.
Q5: What are the best
practices for prompting AI to provide clear and specific answers?
Avoid using vague prompts. Give the AI clear instructions.
Instead of asking it to “explain photosynthesis”, ask it to “explain the
light-dependent reactions of photosynthesis to a college biology student,
focusing on the electron transport chain, and present the key stages in
chronological order”.
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