Use AI Without Losing Your Thinking Skills

Use AI as a coach, not an answer machine

AI can make studying faster, but convenience can remove the productive struggle that builds test-day reasoning. On the SAT or ACT, you still have to make decisions independently.

Explore free Prepitus study tools to support planning and practice, but keep the core reasoning work in your own hands.

Use a three-pass rule

1. First pass: solve the question without help and commit to an answer.
2. Second pass: if you are stuck, ask for a hint or the next step instead of the full solution.
3. Third pass: compare the reasoning, then teach the solution back in your own words.

Tag AI-assisted questions in your error log and revisit them later without support. Use a diagnostic test to check whether those skills are improving in independent work.

For a complementary framework, read AI Literacy Is a Must.

Key takeaway: If a tool makes every answer feel easy but you cannot reproduce the reasoning later, the study method is not working.