How AI can help you in your studies
Table of Contents
- Many ways AI can support your academic journey
- 7 ways AI can lighten your workload
- What a study day might look like with AI
- How AI can support your learning
- How to create the best prompts
1. Research
Get help to understand complex topics or find relevant sources and literature for your assignments.
Scenario 1: You need to write a report on machine learning, but you have a hard time finding the latest research in the field. By using AI to search scientific databases, you will be presented with a list of the most relevant and up-to-date articles, saving you several hours of research. Now you have a solid starting point for your task.
Scenario 2: In your astrophysics class, you struggle to understand a complex topic about quantum mechanics. You use AI to explain the concept in a way that is easier to understand, and it gives you more examples from everyday life that help you relate the theory to practice.
2. Writing assignments
Receive suggestions for structure, wording and ideas for your written assignments, essays or reports.
Scenario 1: You write an assignment on optimizing water supply systems and ask AI for help with structure. It proposes a division with technical analysis, economic assessment and environmental consequences, as well as help to formulate transitions between the sections.
Scenario 2: You are working on a report on robotics in production lines and ask the AI for structure suggestions. The AI recommends starting with a technical description and then analyzing the effect on productivity and working environment, while helping to formulate clear transitions.
3. Study planning
Get tips for effective time management, study planning and exam preparation.
Scenario 1: You have exams in both mathematics and programming in two weeks, and your lectures are close to each other. You ask the AI to create a schedule that takes into account your busy days and your personal preferences. The AI suggests dedicating the first morning hours to math and the later afternoon to programming, with small breaks in between. It helps you to keep an overview so that you can achieve all the preparation without stress.
Scenario 2: You are part of a group work where you find it difficult to coordinate meeting times because everyone has different schedules. You use an AI-based calendar to gather everyone’s schedules and suggest meeting times where everyone can join. That way you avoid wasting time on back and forth communication.
4. Taking notes
Get suggestions for note-taking techniques and help summarizing lectures or material from the syllabus.
Scenario 1: You have a busy day with many lectures and do not have time to take detailed notes. After the lecture, you use AI to create a summary of the main points of the lecture, based on the slides and notes you have uploaded. Now you have a concise and useful document for your exam preparation.
Scenario 2: You are reading a long research paper on nanotechnology, but have difficulty keeping track of the most important parts. The AI tool helps you highlight key sections and create a short summary, which makes it easy to refresh the content later without having to read the entire article again.
5. Exam preparations
Use AI to create quizzes, questions or simulate exam situations.
Scenario 1: Your exam in thermodynamics is approaching and you want to test your understanding of the subject. You ask AI to generate a quiz with questions of varying difficulty so that you can test your skills and target your exam reading to the topics where you have weaknesses. The quiz gives you a realistic picture of how well you are prepared.
Scenario 2: You are nervous about the oral exam in computer science and feel underprepared. Therefore, you ask AI to simulate an exam situation. It asks you questions about core theories and practical examples while you answer orally. In this way, you can practice formulating your thoughts clearly under pressure, which gives you more confidence before the exam.
6. Proofreading and editing
Get help to proofread and improve language, grammar and style in your assignments.
Scenario 1: You have written a comprehensive project on sustainable energy, but you are unsure whether your language is clear enough. Ask AI to review the text and make suggestions for improvements in grammar, language use and flow, making your project more professional and easier to read. You also learn from the feedback and gradually get better at writing.
Scenario 2: You are working on a technical report on circuit theory, but are facing problems getting the technical jargon to sound precise and correct. With the help of AI, you can quickly check whether your wording is clear and precise, while it helps you vary your language to avoid repetition.
7. Effective group collaborations
Receive tips for organizing and collaborating effectively in group projects.
Scenario 1: Your study group is working on a large project on sustainable construction, but there are challenges in distributing the tasks and keeping track of deadlines. You use AI to create a plan that breaks the project down into smaller, manageable tasks and assigns them to team members based on their strengths and preferences. AI also suggests a timeline for when the individual tasks must be completed, so that everyone can follow along without being overburdened.
Scenario 2: In your group assignment on robotics, there are problems with communication, as everyone has different perceptions of what should be prioritized. You ask AI to help create a shared project plan and suggest structured meetings where each team member presents their tasks and gets feedback. The tool also suggests clear goals for each meeting, so that the discussions become focused and productive, which increases the efficiency of the collaboration.
What a study day might look like with AI
In the perfect day as a student with AI by your side, you will start by reading the syllabus texts.
When all the texts have been read, you can prompt ChatGPT to understand concepts and highlight important passages. Then you go to the lecture, even if there are not that many of them, because both students and teachers know that everyone has an AI to help them understand the material. Instead of one-way communication, you can go directly to discussing the texts, expanding group work, solving assignments or setting aside time for sparring between teachers and students.
When you are sitting in a lecture, you can ask the chatbot for points that come up in the lesson. Or ask it to come up with a short summary of a text that is referenced, and then save it as notes.
When the lecture and practice hours are over and you are back home, you can look at the material you have to read in the coming time. Here you can ask artificial intelligence to make a plan for how and when you will read these texts. Then you can ask ChatGPT to create some exam questions for the reading material, so you are ready for the actual exam preparation when the time comes.
Did you know:
We have a whole course on ChatGPT prompting that you can take free of charge as a student member. Just click on the link and start your journey today.
How AI can support your learning
This everyday life is not far off in the future.
Much of the above can already be done now, and if the universities could change their structure tomorrow, then many of the above things could be realized already now.
But that requires a big change at the universities, Christian Hendriksen believes. He also points out that it is important to remember one thing in particular when it comes to artificial intelligence and student life; it must not take over and be used uncritically.
There are already many examples of a gender bias both in the use and output of artificial intelligence. Studies show that men are far more likely to use AI in everyday life than women. And researchers are investigating how bias operates in artificial intelligence.
It doesn’t have to affect your use of AI when looking for literature for your studies, but still be critical of the output you get. Be aware that the data set is based on material from the internet and your prompts can also have an impact on the answers you get. Always make sure you have other sources if you use AI in your studies.
However, Christian Hendriksen sees a huge potential for AI to release a lot of resources both for the university and the students. Study planning is an example, where today there is a whole department at the universities that takes care of it. AI can also solve that task for you, and it even knows your rhythms and routines even better. It can also free up resources from the study supervisors to be in more personal contact with the students.
How to create the best prompts
When using artificial intelligence such as ChatGPT to support you in your studies, it is important to understand how to formulate your queries – or “prompts” – to get the most accurate and useful answers. The better your prompt, the more qualified the response will be. Also pay attention to the guidelines your educational institution has for the use of artificial intelligence.
Here are some tips to help you optimize your prompts so you can get the most out of the AI tool in your daily study:
- Be specific and detailed: Instead of asking broadly, such as “Explain thermodynamics,” you might target your question: “Explain the difference between the first and second laws of thermodynamics and how they are used in energy production.”
When you are specific, you get a more focused and precise answer that is better suited to your field of expertise. - Add context: If you are working on an assignment or need to use AI for a specific study purpose, mention it in your prompt. For example: “I am working on a report on green energy. Can you explain how photovoltaic solar cells work and compare them to wind energy?”
It helps the AI deliver an answer tailored to exactly what you need. - Ask for examples and applications: Theory can often be difficult to understand without concrete examples. For example: “Explain quantum mechanics in relation to particle motion and give a practical example of how it is used in modern technology.”
Examples make it easier for you to relate the theory to real situations. - Use iterative prompts: Sometimes the first response from the AI is not precise enough. If it does, you can add details and ask a follow-up question: “Can you elaborate on your explanation of entropy in thermodynamics and how it relates to the loss of energy in a closed system?”
This way you can refine the answer to what makes sense in your specific context. - Ask about interdisciplinary connection: If you read across different subjects, it can be useful to ask how a concept from one discipline can be related to another. For example: “How does the concept of entropy in thermodynamics relate to information processing in computer technology?”
This helps you gain a deeper understanding across disciplines.
