The 4 Best Ways to Learn (Not Cheat) With ChatGPT

Among the many initial concerns about AI and ChatGPT was that students would use it to write their schoolwork or essays, or otherwise cheat on assignments. While you obviously shouldn’t do this – you’ll never learn anything and the risks outweigh the benefits – you can use ChatGPT to learn more productively.

Use ChatGPT to discuss concepts

Just as we recommended talking to another person who doesn’t know anything about the topic you’re studying to identify areas you need to work on, you can communicate with AI. I just asked ChatGPT about a topic I’m studying – community health interventions – and we “discussed” different levels of community involvement. I already submitted my final assignment on this topic last night, but ChatGPT really had some interesting “ideas” that helped me come up with even more creative solutions that I could use in my work. I was able to ask clarifying questions and get detailed answers that really made sense in the context of my work.

As the American Psychological Association recently noted, using such a back-and-forth language model not only helps you think critically and creatively, it also helps you practice managing technology in our changing world. A win-win.

Use ChatGPT to Summarize Articles

If you have a ton of articles or reports to read, try having ChatGPT summarize them for you. This is great when you need to compare similarities or differences between parts of a study, or get the main points on a list to help you complete an article. I fed him an old article and asked for a summary, and it took about 30 seconds for the language model to condense the 61 pages into one key paragraph, highlighting the research outline, the research objectives, its results, and its recommendations.

Use ChatGPT to Optimize Your Notes

If your notes are hard to read or sort, ChatGPT can help. I assign a Google Doc to each of my classes and take notes in it throughout the semester, but eventually the thing gets weak and almost impossible to navigate. I posted my whole semester notes on research methods on ChatGPT and asked for the most important information. Not only did he pull out the nine stages of study planning and implementation and the principles of the Belmont Report (which were central in the medium term), but he also reminded me how much my score is determined by each test. He emphasized what I wrote down several times, creating the perfect guide to what exactly to study.

Use ChatGPT to create flashcards and self-paced quizzes

I then asked ChatGPT to make cards from the same notes document. Of course, he only created sketches of what each actual card would look like, suggesting to me what should be on the front and back of each card. But by scrolling so that the answers were hidden under the window, I could easily check myself.

Then I tried a new approach. I asked ChatGPT to check it out myself. He asked me questions, and when I entered the correct answers, he even told me, “Great job!” What’s more, he provided more details after I responded, giving me tidbits that weren’t even in my original notes.