Revising effectively with AI

In brief
AI helps you revise when it makes you work: questioning a revision note that you have written, generating questions from your course, explaining a mistake.
It does not replace the time it takes to learn, and what it states must always be checked against your course. At Excelia Business School, we train students precisely to use these tools with discernment and a critical mind.

Can you really revise with AI?

Yes, provided you use it to practise and not to spare yourself the effort: learning requires a time of construction and of putting things into words that a text generated in a few seconds does not replace.

For Thomas Petit, learning engineer at Excelia, generative artificial intelligence challenges the very act of learning. No machine can learn in your place, and overusing it amounts to depriving yourself of opportunities to do it yourself.

What a tool like ChatGPT does well, on the other hand, is produce questions from a text that you provide, rephrase a notion that remains unclear, or explain why an answer is wrong: exchanges that make you work, provided that you answer before it corrects.

How can you make revision notes with AI?

Always start from your own course, never from scratch: giving the tool your notes anchors its answers in the syllabus you are actually studying, rather than in generalities that match no assessment.

Write your revision note yourself, and only then ask ChatGPT to question you on it, since it is this writing stage that works your memory, far more than having it written for you.

From there, several requests help you complete it without writing it in your place. A notion remains obscure? Ask it to rephrase it with an example different from yours, or to spot a forgotten point in a revision note that you send it. You can also submit your revision plan to it and ask where it would see a chapter to add, before comparing its suggestion with what your course actually says.

Testing yourself with AI: quizzes, questions and orals

A generative AI tool can turn your course into a quiz: paste it in, ask for questions, then answer without reopening it before you have finished.

The exercise also works orally. Ask the tool to play the role of an examiner or a panel and to question you on your course, because practice is better when it reproduces the conditions of the exam: aloud, without notes in front of you, within a time limit.

This oral simulation prepares you for practice, not for the exam itself. If the Grand Oral of the baccalaureate is ahead of you, our guide to preparing for the Grand Oral gives you the complete framework, from choosing your topic to exam day.

Which pitfalls should you avoid when revising with AI?

Three reflexes deserve to be watched, not banned:

• Check what is stated: a generative AI tool can produce a wrong answer with the same assurance as a right one. Our article on the reliability of ChatGPT's answers covers this point in detail, and what the tool states must always be checked against your course or a reliable source
• Tell well-expressed from correct: the quality of expression of these tools can make up for a lack of language skills, real or perceived, and give the illusion of a mastery that was previously out of reach
• Spot the reflex under pressure: the temptations to rely on AI multiply in moments of stress, fear of making mistakes or mounting deadlines

One question of framework remains, specific to each situation: the use of AI during an exam or for assessed work depends on the rules set by your institution or by the exam. Finding out beforehand avoids an unpleasant surprise.

Learning to use AI at business school

A business school does not simply allow or forbid AI: it trains you to use it. Excelia Business School wants to train managers who are able to use AI tools with discernment, critical thinking and responsibility, and its teaching covers both their operational uses and their human and ethical implications.

For example, it offered first-year BBA International students a workshop entitled “Using AI during your studies: opportunities and responsibility”, to distinguish benefits from risks and to reflect critically on their own way of learning. At the end of this workshop, the participants made commitments to ethical use: using it appropriately, in moderation, and never using it to cheat.

This approach can be found in the programmes themselves. The Bachelor in Business offers, in the third year, a specialisation devoted to data and artificial intelligence, and the Master of Science (MSc) programmes include an introductory course in artificial intelligence in their common core.

Want to go further on the subject: find out how AI is transforming management careers.

Discover the Bachelor in Business

Frequently asked questions

Can you revise with ChatGPT?

Yes, by using it to practise: having it generate questions on your course, having it explain a mistake, rephrase a notion. What matters is that the time of construction specific to learning remains yours.

How do you create revision notes with AI?

By starting from your own course and first writing your revision note yourself, then asking the tool to question you on it, to spot an omission or to rephrase a point that has remained unclear.

Can AI replace handwritten revision notes?

No: writing your own revision note works your memory. Learning requires a time of construction and of putting things into words that a generated text does not replace.

What are the risks of revising with AI?

The main risk is mistaking a wrong answer for a right one, because a generative AI tool can state an error with assurance. The quality of expression of these tools can also give the illusion of a mastery that you do not yet have.

Can AI create a quiz to revise with?

Yes: by giving it your course, a generative AI tool can generate questions from that text, ask you them, then mark your answers.