Learning is a rather boring and mentally-draining task. Especially, when we don’t know exactly how to learn. And now with the dawn of Artificial Intelligence such as ChatGPT, we now have an easy way to avoid this weight of learning.
However, more often than not, rather than using AI as a tool to aid our learning, we use AI to substitute it. I used to fall into the same pitfall, getting things done without learning anything. Now though, I have started using AI properly, as a guide in my learning-adventures rather than an adventurer that travels for me.
Why we must learn ourselves.
The question is however, why should we do something that can be done much more efficiently through AI? A reasonable question too.
However, the answer largely depends on your goals. If you want to just accomplish a task such as “code a website” or “write an essay”; using AI to do it is justifiable and reasonable.
But for me, my destination is at the end of an endless path. I do things for the sake of learning and satisfying my curiosity. And that cannot be accomplished through AI alone.
A change of perspective.
The change of goals begs a change of perspective. Rather than thinking of AI as an employee under you, it’s better to think of it as a tool to aid your ultimate goal.
As I mentioned, my goal is to learn, and in that scenario, the AI is best suited as a teacher or a tutor. Rather than asking the AI to give me an answer, I ask it to help me come up with one on my own.
For example, for the purpose of writing this blog, I wanted to improve my writing skills. So I inputted one of my previous essays on ChatGPT and asked it to analyze my writing and give me feedback.
After understanding the weak points in my writing, I asked the AI for methods to improve it. For example, I had a habit of stating things as it is, literally, rather than using imagery and painting a picture for the readers to imagine. So for that reason, I started practicing painting with words.
How I used Claude for Coding
Remembering the same principle, I used Claude to ask for advice rather than solutions. In one situation, I wanted to learn how to make my website flexible for all devices, without having to use “@media” too often.
It listed about 10 tips, using which I was able to make my website flex-y, silky smooth. For example, using flex-wrap and clamp() to make the sections and content automatically resize.
This isn’t the only way however, sometimes by using AI, I can come up with better ideas coincidentally. In one situation, I asked the AI to tell me how I can make a slider for the “Skills” content. It wrote down a whole block of really complicated code.
However, I thought of a completely different and simpler way to do the same thing and I asked the AI if my idea was feasible; And it agreed that mine was far more suitable!
Through the help of AI, I was able to improve my website, bugfix certain problems and learn a whole lot of interesting code! In fact, just add a certain command to your AI something along the lines of: “I’m a learner, so give me fun facts related to the topic I’m searching for, and make sure to explain the logic/evidence behind answers so I have a strong understanding!”
Ultimately, in the end, AI is the future. Rather than denying or abusing this new tool, let us use it properly to help us succeed in our endeavors.