The introduction of Generative AI (GenAI) has definitely revolutionized the way I approach studying, GenAI tools act as my personal digital ‘study tutors’. For instance, one of the features I use the most is its ability to generate explanations of difficult academic topics making it easier to understand these concepts. Moreover, instead of spending hours reading articles, it helps me to quickly extract the highlights of the text, saving me time and helping me understand the key ideas more efficiently. In addition to automating repetitive, lengthy tasks, I also use the tool to prepare for exams by simulating exam questions on course content. This engages me in active learning, making studying more interactive and less passive. Especially since my self-proclaimed ‘study tutor’ resonates with my personal learning preferences, so it adjusts to my learning pace and style, which ultimately enhances my learning process.
However, when I compare the AI-generated ‘study tutor’ to a professor teaching, there are some notable differences. Lectures typically offer in-depth analysis and a structured approach to teaching and conveying knowledge. Furthermore, the professor’s expertise and contextual understanding add extra layers of insight that the GenAI tool sometimes lacks. So I would say that my ‘study tutor’ is useful for quick clarifications and generating summaries/practice exams, but doesn’t yet replace the depth and nuance of traditional learning methods.
In conclusion, while GenAI greatly enhances my learning through summaries and adaptive tutoring, it works best as a supplement to traditional methods, providing efficiency and customization alongside more extensive academic resources.
Hi,
Thanks for posting this blog regarding studying with AI. I like how it captures the ease of using GenAI to personally assist people in their own pace of studying.
Another thing I thought of, was the availability of the AI-tutor. An AI-tutor is available 24/7 whereas normal professors obviously have better things to do than react to an email at 23:00 pm. In addition, the barrier of asking a non-human tutor questions is significantly lower than reaching out to a human tutor. Although professors for the most part are more than happy to answer content-related questions, it still takes an extra step to confront them and have them answer your questions.
A major downside, as you mentioned, is still that AI has shortcomings in terms of expertise and understanding underlaying principles. For the harder, in-depth, questions, the always-available AI-tutor often won’t be able help you. At least, not help you in a way that satisfies your concerns. Therefore I don’t consider a complete transition of human professors to AI-professors as a relevant issue. For the time being at least…