AI Tools for Learning, Studying and Research

Event Quick Description
This intensive, hands-on 4-hour workshop cuts through the hype and dives deep into the practical strategies and tools you need to become a more efficient and insightful learner and researcher. We'll move beyond basic chatbot interactions and explore how to leverage AI as a personalized tutor, a powerful research assistant, a creative brainstorming partner, and an intelligent memorization aid.

LAPTOP required! If you want to follow along with demos and exercises.

LOCATION - Goethe-Institut Lisboa, Campo dos Mártires da Pátria 37, 1169-016 Lisboa - SALA 1

Who Should Attend?
This workshop is ideal for:
- Students: High school, undergraduate, and graduate students looking to improve study habits, understand complex topics, and enhance research projects.
- Researchers & Academics: Anyone seeking to streamline literature reviews, analyze data, and accelerate the research process.
- Lifelong Learners: Individuals passionate about acquiring new knowledge and skills more effectively.
- Educators: Those interested in understanding how students might (and should) use AI tools ethically and effectively.

What You Will Learn (Practical Skills & Takeaways):
- Master Prompt Engineering for Learning: Learn the art of crafting effective prompts to transform general AI like ChatGPT (including GPT-4o) and Claude into powerful learning aids.
- Build Your Personal AI Tutor: Understand and apply principles (inspired by research from Harvard Business Publishing) to prompt AI to act as an encouraging, Socratic tutor that guides you through complex topics, checks your understanding, and adapts to your learning level.
- Accelerate Research with Specialized Tools:
Conduct deep, structured research using Perplexity and
ChatGPT/Gemini's Deep Research capabilities (understanding their power and limitations, including potential omissions).
- Efficiently find and analyze academic papers using Elicit.
- Leverage Claude Projects for managing larger research tasks and contexts.
- Utilize Google's NotebookLM to chat with and synthesize information from your own documents and notes.
- Revolutionize Note-Taking & Memorization:
- Discover techniques for using AI to summarize complex texts and generate study notes.
- Learn how to create effective Anki flashcards using AI assistance, tailoring recall practice to your specific needs (including extracting steps from transcripts/texts).
- Visualize Concepts with AI:
Generate images, diagrams, and infographics using GPT-4o, Claude, and other tools like Whimsical.
- Learn how to convert AI-generated diagrams (e.g., Mermaid graphs from Claude) into editable formats using tools like Excalidraw.
- Conquer PDFs & Data Input:
- Master techniques for "chatting" with your PDF documents to extract key information and insights.
- Learn about tools and methods (like arXiv-txt.org for academic papers, r.jina.ai, gitingest, llms.txt, and concepts behind tools like olmOCR) for simplifying data extraction from various sources, including challenging PDFs.
- Discover tips and hacks for efficiently feeding large amounts of text or data into LLMs for analysis or summarization.
- Explore Advanced Options: Get an introduction to the potential and - considerations of using Local LLMs for offline access or specialized needs.
- Critically Evaluate & Use AI Responsibly: Understand the limitations of AI, including potential inaccuracies ("hallucinations") and biases, and develop strategies for verifying information and using these tools ethically.

Workshop Outline (4 Hours):
disclaimer: this outline is SUBJECT TO CHANGE at any time!
Hour 1: Foundations & The AI Tutor
Introduction: The AI Landscape for Learning & Research
Core Prompting Principles: Getting the Most out of ChatGPT & Claude
Hands-On: Crafting Your Personal AI Tutor (Harvard-inspired prompt structure)
Hour 2: Deepening Understanding & Memorization
AI for Summarization & Note-Taking (NotebookLM)
Intelligent Memorization: Generating Anki Flashcards with AI
Hands-On: Creating AI-powered flashcards from provided text/concepts.
Hour 3: Powering Your Research Workflow
Deep Dive Research Tools: Perplexity, Gemini Deep Research, Elicit
Working with PDFs: Chatting, Extraction Techniques (incl. arXiv-txt concept)
Hands-On: Conducting a mini-research task using selected AI tools.
Hour 4: Visualization, Advanced Techniques & Critical Use
AI for Generating Diagrams & Images (GPT-4o, Claude + Excalidraw)
Efficient Data Input Strategies & Intro to Local LLMs
Critical Evaluation, Limitations (Hallucinations, Omissions), and Ethical Use
Q&A and Wrap-up
Format:
This is an interactive, practical workshop combining expert instruction, live demonstrations, and hands-on exercises. Bring your laptop and be ready to experiment!
Outcome:
You will leave this workshop equipped with a toolkit of AI strategies and practical skills to significantly enhance your learning efficiency, deepen your understanding of complex subjects, and streamline your research process intelligently and ethically.