The biggest danger in learning is thinking you understand something when you don't. LLMs make this especially easy. They're like a machine for manufacturing the illusion of knowledge. You ask a question, get an answer, and feel smarter. But you're not. If you actually want to learn, you have to treat them as opponents instead of oracles. The real value is in using them to test your understanding, not to replace it.

1. Solve it Yourself: Try to solve the problem yourself before you ask for help, it's the only way to find out what you actually know. Even if you're completely lost, write down what you think the answer might be, or where you get stuck. When you see the LLM's reasoning, compare it to your own. The places where they diverge are the places you have something to learn.

2. Ask for the Reasoning: If you're stuck on a problem, don't just paste it in and say "solve this." Ask the LLM to explain each step, and why it's necessary. Even better, ask it what mistakes people usually make with this kind of problem. The point isn't to get the answer, but to understand the shape of the problem.

3. Generate Practice Problems: If you're studying Bayes' theorem, ask for three problems, easy to hard. Then try to solve them without help and only check the answers after you've made a real attempt. You can also add PDFs, images, etc. with the information you want to study, and have it quiz you on it in different difficulties. The difference between thinking you understand something and actually being able to do it is the difference between reading about swimming and jumping in the pool.

4. Explain it to the LLM: If you're trying to learn a concept and think you're starting to understand, you always want to test your knowledge by explaining it in your own words. If you can't, you probably don't understand it yet. The test of understanding is being able to explain something clearly. One great simple prompt is "Pretend you're a student who doesn't get this. Ask me questions until I can explain it clearly." It is an absolutely and positively mindnumbing experience, but it's the best way to figure out which parts are not clear to you yet.

5. Don't trust the facts: We all know this. They're confident, but not always right. If you're learning something factual, always ask for sources, and check them yourself. If it gives you a formula, ask where it came from. The cost of being wrong is higher than the cost of being slow.

LLMs are amazing tools for learning, but only if you use them to make yourself think. If you let them do your thinking for you, you'll end up with a head full of borrowed answers and no real understanding. But if you use them to challenge yourself & clarify your thinking, you can learn faster than you ever could before. The trick is to remember that the hard part of learning is not getting to the answer, but figuring out your own path to understanding.