The Top 10 Best AI Tools For Learning Anything In 2024

AI has changed education forever. The problem is if you search google there are now thousands of AI-powered learning apps out there and it can be really difficult to figure out which are the best.

So to help you out I signed-up to as many AI learning tools as I could find and then compiled a list of what I consider to be the 10 best AI tools for learning that you can use to learn anything faster right now.

1.Shiken AI

First up we have Shiken AI which is an all in one AI learning platform that features AI note-taking, AI-powered active recall question and course creation, an AI coach to help you to easily understand topics and now AI role-play scenarios that allow you to practise conversations in real time which can be used for everything from language learning to job interview scenarios.

Shiken essentially brings the best parts of Notion, Quizlet, ChatGPT and Duolingo into a single platform.

You can set a learning goal like an exam date and set how many questions or course lessons you want to do each day and then you can either create your own notes and questions or generate them using AI with either a basic prompt or creating them from a document or web link.

You can then play solo or join a live game or self-paced challenge with the helpful AI coach able to explain topics or even analyse documents and links from the web.

Oh and Shiken also sends you daily motivational quotes and has a mindfulness area that encourages non-sleep dependent rest around study sessions as there is evidence to show that this optimizes learning retention.

Shiken is free to sign-up to and it's AI tools are included in it's Learner Premium subscription which is £99/year and you can also sell your knowledge with creator paid plans starting at £29/month.

2.Learn XYZ

Next up we have Learn XYZ which a little bit like Shiken focuses on generating courses from AI.

You can type in any topic and either choose from a course that already exists or instantly generate your own course.

Courses feature text with active recall questions displayed at the end to test understanding and knowledge retention.

Learn XYZ is completely free and is accessible on both web and mobile.

3.Character AI

Learning should be fun and Character AI embodies just how fun using AI can be. The platform allows you to browse thousands of AI created chat bots or create your own.

Characters can be used for anything from language learning to choose your own adventure style creativity games and more.

Creating a character is really easy. You just choose a name, add a greeting and then generate an image for your character. There are some more advanced options too like choosing the character's voice and providing more background and example conversations to make your character unique.

A bit like ChatGPT you can then speak with your personalized characters and use them for anything you like.

Character AI is free on mobile and desktop and then the paid version is $9.99 per month which includes priority access and early access to the latest features.

4.Elicit

One of the most time consuming tasks when researching anything is searching through journals, finding the salient points and then referencing these in your own work. I had to do this all the way through my training as a Doctor and it's really tedious.

Elicit helps automate research workflows by using AI. Elicit can find and summarise relevant papers pulling out the important information to save you time researching.

As someone who regularly uses PubMed, Athens and Google Scholar to search for relevant papers on productivity, learning and human performance the intelligent search function and ability to filter results quickly is already much better than traditional journal search methods which are pretty poor.

One of the features I really like is the ability to create tasks which are basically custom prompts and also see what tasks others have created. This saves loads of time and helps you get the most out of using the AI to analyze research papers.

Price: FREE

5.ChatGPT

OpenAI have been adding features to ChatGPT since it was released that have made it increasingly powerful for learning.

The free version of ChatGPT uses GPT3.5 which, while not quite as good as GPT4 is still really helpful for quickly explaining topics. The ChatGPT mobile app now also comes with voice features so you can ask ChatGPT questions directly using your microphone.

The real power however comes with the ChatGPT Plus monthly subscription. $20/month gets you access to GPT4 which now includes the ability to upload documents, analyse images and even create your own GPTs.

For learning this means you can upload a photo of your notes and have them summarized, generate an image using DALLE, chat with a YouTube or create your own tutor bot using the GPT creator.

While ChatGPT is awesome platforms like Shiken, Notion, Quizlet and others also have all of these image and document upload features but at a slightly lower price point. Bing too offers GPT4 fro free so if price is an issue it's worth checking out alternatives depending on the precise AI features you find yourself using the most.

Price: $20/month for Chat GPT Plus Subscription

6.Duolingo

Next up is Duolingo Max which adds GPT4-powered Explain My Answer and Roleplay to Duolingo's paid plan

Explain My Answer lets learners tap a button after certain exercise types and enter a chat with Duo to get a simple explanation on why their answer was right or wrong, and ask for examples or further clarification.

Roleplay lets learners practice real-world conversation skills with characters in the Duolingo app. These challenges, which earn XP, live alongside the path as one of the “Side Quests” learners can access by tapping on the character. Learners might discuss things like future vacation plans, order coffee at a café in Paris or ask a friend to go for a hike.

After the interaction, learners get AI-powered feedback from Duo on the accuracy and complexity of their responses, as well as tips for future conversations.

The only courses that can utilize these new features are Spanish and French for English speakers on iOS. We expect to roll these out to more courses and platforms very soon!

7.Jenni AI

Next we have Jenni AI which is an AI writing tool with a focus on citing research articles.

Jenni's in-text citations will save you loads of time if you are writing any form of academic text where references are important. Jenni searches the latest research databases and any PDFs you upload and then cites in APA, MLA, IEEE, or Harvard style.

Having written lots of academic papers when practising medicine it's often collecting and citing references that takes the majority of time and Jenni really takes the pain out of this. Jenni also has all of the standard AI writing tools tool like autocomplete, grammar checking and summarization and more.

Jenni has a free plan which caps how much you can write and then paid plans start at $20/month.

8.Speechify

Speechify is a really great AI tool for students who struggle with reading or retaining information from written text. The app converts written text into spoken words, allowing students to listen to textbooks, articles or notes from pretty much any medium. This not only saves time, but also improves comprehension and retention. Text to speech simply means using artificial intelligence to read words aloud be; it from a PDF, email, docs, or any website. Speechify was started with the idea that people with dyslexia could really benefit from a tool that could read text out loud. I often find that listening to Audible at double speed while reading a Kindle book helps me to read way faster and be more productive.

Speechify is awesome for students as it takes advantage of the fact that our brains handle auditory and visual information separately so there is no additional cognitive load if we are listening to text being read aloud. Listening as you follow along can also improve your reading speed.

Speechify is an AI tool that is perfect for studying as you can change the default voice to a custom voice, change accents, languages, and even increase or decrease the speaking rate making it a great fit for any learner.

Speechify offers celebrity voices for added fun and has also integrated audio books into their subscription.

Pricing: $139 /year and $199/year for audiobooks

Paid features:

• 900 WPM (4.5x)
• Voices: Natural voices
• Scan and listen to any printed text
• Save content across devices. iOS, Android, and Web
• Note-taking tools

9.Notion AI

I use Notion as a second brain to store book summaries and to organize my daily habits. The addition of AI allows you to summarize saved articles, expand upon ideas or just improve the readability of an essay.

If you are studying for an exam and using Notion as your study planner you can ask Notion AI to explain a topic or to generate active recall questions for you to practise. The AI tools fit nicely into Notion's minimalist interface and if you have lots of notes already stored in Notion like me Notion's AI tools for studying can help to quickly optimise these with the press of a button.

Tidying up your note-taking app can be really time consuming as can turning your notes into active recall questions. Notion's AI tools help boost your productivity and save you time so you can focus on learning.

Pricing starts at $8/month which is a nice entry point for an already great tool.

Pricing

10.Quizlet

Quizlet has integrated AI into their platform in 3 key ways.

Firstly there is the essay outline generator which asks you to enter a topic and then asks you a series of questions that then generates an essay outline. While this takes a little bit longer than most AI essay outline generators it does provide a slightly more unique output.

The more useful AI tools Quizlet has launched are it's AI flashcard generator and Q-Chat it's personal tutor. Similar to Shiken and ChatGPT you can upload a file or enter text and then Quizlet will generate flashcards from this. It's currently missing the ability to add a link but this will likely come soon.

Q-Chat has a nice UX and allows you to switch between being quizzed, getting an explanation of a topic and applying that knowledge with higher order questions.

Quizlet has lots of free features and then the paid plan removes ads and includes uncapped AI tools and starts at £30/year.

Final Thoughts on AI For Learning

Okay so there are lots of great AI tools to help you to learn faster. In my opinion the most important thing when considering using AI is to ask yourself how much time will this tool save me and does the tool align with evidence-based learning techniques like active recall and help to reduce my cognitive load.

With ChatGPT we've seen that it can hallucinate and offer inaccurate explanations especially when it comes to math solutions and so it's always worth remembering that you should always check anything produced by an AI.

That being said having reviewed hundreds of AI learning tools the ones that use AI to creatively make learning fun and save you time are in my opinion the best.

Role play scenarios like we've seen in Character.ai, Shiken and Duolingo help us to practise skills that previously would need a 1-1 human interaction. Equally tools that enable fast generation of active recall questions from a document or link are extremely useful especially if these can then go directly into a testing system like Quizlet or Shiken.

For things like practising recall questions or getting explanations to help you deeply understand concepts AI tools can massively boost both your productivity and help you to learn in a more focused way.

For areas like notetaking or essay writing AI can reduce repetitive tasks like adding in citations and this is where tools like Jenni really stand out.

I have another great video looking at how to get the most out of ChatGPT for studying if you are on the free tier which I'll pop up here.

Thanks so much for watching and for subscribing and I'll catch you in the next video.