4 neuroscience-backed tips for using AI to learn more effectively

In today's AI-driven world, human skills are becoming increasingly valuable, necessitating their deep embedding in employees' long-term memory for easy deployment under pressure. To effectively learn with AI, four neuroscience-backed steps can be taken: engaging with AI, generating new insights, making the experience emotional, and providing learning space to breathe.

Firstly, engaging with AI requires making the learning process highly compelling to capture attention. While AI may initially keep users' attention by providing answers, this form of attention is shallow and unproductive. Instead, learners must actively engage with the material by asking thoughtful questions, challenging assumptions, and suggesting new possibilities. This active collaboration during the learning process is crucial for embedding human skills in long-term memory.

Secondly, generating new insights is essential for transforming abstract facts into a robust web of knowledge that connects to other mental maps, deepening overall understanding. Generation more deeply encodes information in the brain, moving it from short-term to long-term memory. AI can facilitate moments of insight through open-ended questions, acting as a wise coach that leads users to new conclusions and discoveries. Ownership of these new ideas drives curiosity and pursuit, setting the stage for emotional engagement.

Thirdly, making the learning experience emotional is crucial for long-term retention. Learners must feel something during the process—whether positive or slightly negative—to create richer memories. Social learning events, play, and tying the learning to personal life can all be adapted to suit AI-enhanced training. Personalizing the AI agent's style of coaching based on individual results-driven focus can further enhance emotional engagement.

Lastly, providing learning space to breathe is the final step in embedding human skills in long-term memory. The brain functions as a forgetting machine, quickly classifying unimportant information as unimportant and subsequently forgetting it. The Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve reveals that humans typically forget about 50% of what they learn within the first hour, so spacing out learning sessions is vital.

By spacing out learning and allowing the brain time to process and consolidate information, users can ensure that critical skills remain readily accessible under pressure.