With finals season fast approaching, I, like many of you, am looking for any possible way to save time. For many of us, the beginning of May doesn’t just mean finals. It means getting ready to move out, hunting for formal dresses, and saying goodbye to friends. It’s a chaotic time, to say the least.
The advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology has not only revolutionized our education but also offered a beacon of relief during the stressful finals season. While skepticism may surround its role in schools and universities, I believe there are so many benefits it can bring when used as a valuable tool for studying. Here’s a list of my favorites!
- Explain this to me like I’m five
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One of the classes I’ve used AI websites like ChatGPT for is Principles of Microeconomics. Since I didn’t take this class in high school, some concepts, like cost industries, were really confusing to conceptualize.
My favorite strategy for this class was typing in whatever topic I was studying with the instructions, “Explain this to me like I’m five.” With this, ChatGPT will give you a response in terms of candy or toy trucks. While it sounds trivial, this brief, concise explanation gives me a real-life view of the topic I am learning about.
For example, I plugged in the prompt, “Explain increasing cost industries to me like I’m five.” In about three seconds, ChatGPT spat out a response easily comparing increasing cost industries to finding rare pieces when building a LEGO Spaceship.
The most powerful ability is to be able to teach people about things you’re learning in a simple way. Having a resource to help when professors can’t may just be the trick.
- Write a Song
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When it comes to state capitals or remembering what the thirteenth element is for trivia (it’s aluminum, by the way), I rely on the catchy songs that I’ve been learning since elementary school. The melodies and rhymes help me memorize information more quickly than any other method. If you asked me a random fact about circles, I could probably tell you thanks to the circle rap I made for my seventh-grade math presentation.
A new AI program, Udio, allows you to make songs with lyrics and music based on the prompts you give it. The next time you need to remember the events at the Defenestration of Prague (historical code for “throw someone out a window,” in case you were wondering) or remember the parts of a cell for baby bio, a song may be the best way to learn during crunch time.
- Play Devil’s Advocate
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AI, despite its impressive capabilities, isn’t infallible. Often, when using it for homework, I notice that the answers it gives me don’t match up with the actual correct answers. There are two perspectives to this: “Isn’t that the literal one job you’re supposed to do?” and “This makes me a better learner.”
Gaining practice in correcting AI errors helps you prevent doing the same on an exam. The cliché of learning by making mistakes is true in this case. The more practice you get when you see common mistakes, the better you can apply the course material. This is a handy exercise in application over memorization.
- Make a study guide or essay outline
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Newton’s Law of Inertia states that the hardest thing to do is to start. Considering I have a seven-page paper due in three days that I haven’t started yet, I would argue that it’s pretty accurate.
You can ease procrastination by breaking projects into steps using ChatGPT. Simply give it the task at hand, give it the time constraints, and watch it do its magic. Similarly, you can type in your essay prompt and have it broken down by ideas or paragraphs.
You can also use AI to “grade” your essay. By inputting it along with the rubric and having it give areas for improvement, it’s a convenient way to get feedback and find holes in your writing.
Hopefully, these tactics ease the impending doom that is the week of finals. With these study strategies, even the worst procrastinators can start to tackle their finals week fears and earn an A (but hey, Cs still get degrees).
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