I Built an AI Chatbot to Help Me Study Efficiently

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Hey there.

I hope you've had a great week.

What I've made for you

Book notes—Run Like a Pro (Even If You're Slow): Elite Tools and Tips for Runners at Every Level by Matt FitzgeraldThis book is a fantastic introduction to effective running training. I learnt a lot about what is important when training, how to think about training and how to train. It also dispelled some common misconceptions about running. I've applied the skills I've learnt to other physical activities and that's helped me a lot.

Book notes—A Philosophy of Software Design by John OusterhoutA good book on software design. The book discusses the importance of simplicity and consistency in code design, and argues that the best way to reduce complexity is to modularise code so that each module has a well-defined purpose. It also advocates taking the time to make proactive design improvements, rather than waiting until a system is overwhelmed by complexity.

  I built an AI chatbot to help me study more efficiently

... and I named it Ludvig.

As most students will attest to, there is a ton of material to review and understand for any given semester. Reading this material requires you to filter through the noise, which can be a very time-consuming process.

To make it easier, I created Ludvig - an AI chatbot based on OpenAI's GPT 3.5 model.The chatbot can answer questions about any of my courses, and go into more detail when prompted. It works in a similar way to ChatGPT, except that this one 'knows' the entire syllabus for my courses.

Here's what I did.I took every single PDF, slide or other piece of text in our syllabus that was given to us and put it into a database.Even better, during the COVID pandemic shutdown, lectures were held online - which in most cases meant they were recorded and made public.

So I downloaded all the lectures I could find, transcribed them using OpenAI Whisper, and added them to the database.

All of this was done for less than $2, which includes me asking the chatbot a lot of questions.

Now, whenever I ask the chatbot a question, it checks the database to see if it can find anything similar to what I'm asking. It uses that as context for answering the question, combined with the previous conversation history and some other instructions I've given it.

Using this kind of tool is great because it helps me to be more effective in my studies.However, it is crucial that such tools do not become a replacement for the active learning that is necessary to understand and learn the material.

AI is fantastic as a tool, but it needs to be used correctly to be useful.It is a mistake to outsource your thinking to these tools. They simply allow you to deal with some problems more efficiently, leaving you free to deal with more important problems.

  Four thousand weeks

I've come across a fantastic tribute to the book Four Thousand Weeks (my book notes). Four Thousand Weeks is a book I wholeheartedly recommend - it is a much-needed read, especially for productivity geeks like me.

I urge you to explore this homage: exploring time management in the face of human finitude.It starts with you entering the time of your birth. The design & execution is excellent, and it leaves you thinking afterward.

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