Prompt “Engineering” – is it a lie?
Every time someone talks to me about using AI, they talk about how to use Prompt Engineering to get answers.
The thing is: the last thing you want if you are trying to learn is answers.
When you are trying to learn and have that learning stick, you need to be challenged to remember and use your knowledge so that it commits to long-term memory.
The Forgetting
Have you ever read something and then tried to remember it the next day?
For many people (myself included), it can be easy to forget something unless you reinforce it. This is well-known, and the research-backed method for remembering is Spaced Repetition. Where you revisit the information over time.
Spaced Repetition: Reviewing information right as you’re about to forget it. It’s the secret to moving things from “short-term” to “forever” memory.
Spaced Repetition is only one of several research-based learning techniques with proven results.
Others include:
Metacognition: Thinking about your own thinking. It’s the “look in the mirror” that tells you what you actually know versus what you think you know.
The Socratic Method: Instead of giving you answers, the AI will ask you questions. This forces you to “build” the knowledge inside your own mind.
Dual Encoding: Combining words with visuals. Your brain has two “lanes” for memory; we’re going to use both to avoid mental traffic jams.
Retrieval Practice: The act of pulling information out of your head. It’s like a workout for your neurons.
AI Makes “not-learning” even worse
Now that we have AI, the answers generated by a prompt make learning even more of a challenge. We enter a prompt and are bombarded with a result that we “might” read – or, more likely, will skim.
The solution is to think about using AI not as an “answering machine”, but as a “learning partner”
Video on Using AI for Learning
On my YouTube channel, I’ve created a video on how to use AI as a Learning Coach.
Download my complete PDF on Using AI as a Learning Coach – it’s free.
AI is Changing the Way We Learn
As we navigate a new world where AI is embedded everywhere and used in place of search to give more comprehensive answers, we need to ensure we have more comprehension. Real Learning.
