Sitting with his mum, one man noticed she asked ChatGPT 'Why do people say…?' about claims, which invites it to explain the reasons even if the claim is false. He taught her to ask 'Is this claim true? What does the evidence show?' instead, a simple habit for thinking more critically.
I've heard this claim: [CLAIM]. Is it true? Please tell me what the best available evidence shows, how strong that evidence is, what the main counter-arguments are, and where the claim may have come from. If it's partly true, say which part. Point me to the kinds of reliable sources I could check myself.
Replace the [PLACEHOLDERS] with your own details before you send it.
How to try it
- When you hear a surprising claim, ask ‘Is this true?’ rather than ‘Why do people say this?’.
- Ask ChatGPT to rate the strength of the evidence and give both sides.
- Check one or two reliable sources yourself, and share the habit with family members who use AI.
More learning use cases
Practise speaking a language with ChatGPT’s voice mode
One learner uses ChatGPT's voice mode to practise Japanese: he picks a topic, has a conversation, and asks for more sophisticated vocabulary and idioms. He finds it works well at an advanced level.
Let's have a conversation in [LANGUAGE] about [TOPIC]. I'm at about [LEVEL] level. Speak at a natural pace. After every few exchanges, suggest more natural or sophisticated words and idioms I could have used, and correct one mistake.
Revise for an exam from your own notes with NotebookLM
Preparing for an engineering physics exam, one student uploaded lecture notes, PDFs and study material to NotebookLM. Because answers were grounded in his own sources, he could ask for explanations, chapter summaries and practice questions, and trace answers back to his notes.
Using only my uploaded notes, explain [TOPIC] simply, then give me [NUMBER] exam-style questions on it, starting easy and getting harder. After I answer, mark my answers and point me to the part of my notes that explains anything I got wrong.
Create listening practice from mini stories with Claude
On Hacker News, a German learner who needs to improve their listening said they have Claude write mini stories on different topics, then use ElevenLabs to narrate them.
Write a short story in [LANGUAGE] at [LEVEL, E.G. A2] level about [TOPIC], around [NUMBER] words. Use everyday vocabulary, short sentences and a bit of dialogue. After the story, list 10 key words with English meanings and three comprehension questions.
Reference: X @eftegarie