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GenAI as a Learning Companion

When we start integrating our use of GenAI into our daily lives, it is easy to fall into common mistakes—as we saw in Monday’s article. For instance, when learning something new, it’s easy to get limited answers from search engines or even GenAI if we don’t ask the right follow-up questions. This hands-on guide explores how using iterative feedback with GenAI—a little like having a conversation with an incredibly knowledgeable friend, a Thinking Buddy, if you will—can elevate your learning experience. Rather than stopping at the first response, we’ll use feedback to ask clarifying questions, refine answers, and dig deeper into complex ideas.

Today’s focus is habit formation as our learning topic, but feel free to adapt this process to anything you’re curious about!

The Tool of the Week: Feedback Loop

This week’s tool is a powerful one:

Feedback Loop

Using GenAI’s iterative feedback capability allows us to prompt it with additional instructions and feedback to gradually the journey over several steps. Instead of one broad answer, you’re creating more comprehensive and nuanced responses by treating your Thinking Buddy as a conversation partner.

Here’s how you might start and refine the conversation to create a richer learning experience.

Step-by-Step: Deepening Your Learning Experiences with GenAI

Step 1: Begin with a Broad Question

Start with a general question to give your Thinking Buddy some context about your topic. For this particular example, let’s ask a straightforward question about habit formation:

    
I want to learn about habit formation. What are the basics I should know?

Copy the prompt and try it with ChatGPT

This prompt helps establish foundational ideas, likely introducing concepts like cue-routine-reward or the importance of repetition. Starting broadly gives your Thinking Buddy room to offer an overview, setting the stage for more specific questions.

What we get: GenAI may explain basic principles from well-known frameworks, like the habit loop popularized by Charles Duhigg’s The Power of Habit. From here, we’re ready to dive deeper.

Step 2: Request Practical Steps

Next, narrow the scope to focus on actionable steps. This transition turns general concepts into specific actions that you can test in daily life.

    
What about practical steps? How can I start applying the cue-routine-reward loop to build a daily reading habit?

Copy the prompt and try it with ChatGPT

Why this works: This prompt builds on the earlier answer and lets your Thinking Buddy know you’re looking for practical applications. You’ll likely get suggestions like setting a specific cue (e.g., time or visual), a routine (reading for a small amount of time), and a reward (a treat or a progress tracker).

Note: Feel free to ask for adjustments if the response doesn’t align with your goals. For instance, if GenAI suggests unrealistic daily goals, ask for smaller steps.

Step 3: Clarify for Personalization

To get answers that feel more tailored, add personal context or specific details. This can make the response more relevant to your needs.

    
That sounds nice but, being honest here, I find it hard to stay motivated after a few days. What strategies can help me with long-term consistency?

Copy the prompt and try it with ChatGPT

What this does: Adding this detail tells GenAI that you’re looking for strategies to stay committed, not just the basics. It might suggest advanced techniques like habit stacking or finding accountability in others to keep you motivated. By layering on more personal context, you’re guiding your Thinking Buddy to respond with advice that feels applicable to you.

Step 4: Ask for Clarifications or Relate your Learning Experience to Other Ideas

Sometimes, you might have something in mind that would help your learning journey. Don’t be afraid to ask your Thinking Buddy to help you connect the dots. For instance, we can ask it to relate habit formation with the Four Tendencies by Gretchen Rubin.

    
I see. I think that makes sense and it is doable. In the topic of motivation, though, I read a great book by Gretchen Rubin called "The Four Tendencies". It explains how people manage both internal and external expectations. I find that this relates very much to how we approach habit formation. How could we integrate this idea into our conversation? Can you give me a two-liner about each tendency and how people could "hack" their habit formation practice based on their tendencies?

Copy the prompt and try it with ChatGPT

Why this is important: GenAI is more effective when we engage with it as a conversational partner. One of its most useful abilities is being able to connect and extrapolate ideas. You can either point them out yourself (as we just did) or ask it to think outside the box. You will be amazed by the connections it can make!

Step 5: Export Your Learning Journey’s Conclusions

Once you’ve refined your learning experience, you can ask your Thinking Buddy to summarize the main points and give you the takeaways. Following the GenAI tool from last week’s Hands-On, you can also specify the format for the response.

In our example, it can be helpful to track your progress in a structured format to help you build a reading habit. Creating a habit tracker with a table outlining your routine makes it easy to see your commitment in action, day by day. Here’s how to build a tracker with GenAI and export it for easy access.

    
Now let's generate a spreadsheet in table format for a reading habit tracker that I can download. Include columns for ‘Day,’ ‘Reading Time (mins),’ ‘Book Title/Chapter,’ ‘Goal Met? (Yes/No),’ and ‘Notes.’ Also, add a section at the top with my reading routine: I will read for 10 minutes every evening after dinner, and I'll check in weekly to track my progress.

Copy the prompt and try it with ChatGPT

Your Thinking Buddy will now generate a table template you can use to log daily reading habits, complete with a customizable header for your personal routine.

Here is my full conversation with my Thinking Buddy in case you want to take a look!

Final Thoughts: Using GenAI to Learn, Not Just to Answer

With GenAI, you have a learning companion in your Thinking Buddy who won’t judge your questions and is always ready for one more round of iterations. This hands-on approach can make GenAI much more than just a search tool—it becomes a study buddy, one that grows more helpful with each layer of feedback you provide.

Learning is a journey, and by iterating and refining your questions, you can take GenAI along for the ride. Take some time today to try these steps out with any topic you’d like to explore. The conversation might surprise you!

Your Turn: Ready to turn GenAI into your learning companion? Head to ChatGPT and start a conversation that builds on itself. Remember, it’s about refining answers, learning together, and discovering insights in a way that’s both engaging and enlightening.