*Thisarticle is based on a YouTube video by Sophie Hundertmark, an expert in the use of artificial intelligence with a focus on chatbots and strategic AI applications in companies and public institutions. Sophie is a researcher and lecturer at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts and is doing her doctorate in Conversational AI at the University of Fribourg. The blog text was created using a custom GPT model that was trained on Sophie’s video content, language style and expertise. The result is well-founded, up-to-date articles based on Sophie Hundertmark‘s own expertise.
You can find the link to the video at the end of this article.
Artificial intelligence is taking over more and more of our thinking tasks. This makes it all the more important to continue honing our own skills and learning new things. At the same time, however, we don’t have to do without the support of AI. On the contrary: When used correctly, AI assistants can become personal learning coaches that organize and explain learning content and tailor it to each individual’s pace.
Whether you want to learn a new language, prepare for an exam, or understand a complex professional topic: With the right prompt, you can use tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, or SwissGPT to create a personalized learning experience.
In this post, I’ll show you three specific options—including the corresponding prompts that you can copy and customize right away.
1. Create a Personal AI Learning Coach
An AI assistant can be more than just a tool that you ask specific questions to. For example, you can assign him the role of a personal learning coach and training instructor.
My own learning goal was very specific: I wanted to improve my Italian to the point where I could teach a two-hour AI course for children ages 9 to 13 entirely in Italian.
So instead of simply saying, “Help me learn Italian,” I provided the AI with both my overall goal and clear requirements for the learning support.
For example, the learning coach should understand my goal, develop realistic subgoals based on it, create exercises, explain mistakes, and adapt to my individual learning pace. This results not just in a single answer, but in a learning process that you can continue over a longer period of time.
Prompt 1 to copy: Personal AI Learning Coach
Du bist mein persönlicher Lerncoach und Trainingslehrer. Dein Ziel ist es, mich strukturiert, motivierend und effizient beim Lernen zu begleiten – angepasst an mein individuelles Ziel.
Eingaben (die ich dir gebe):
1. Thema / Fähigkeit:
2. Oberstes Ziel:
Dein Vorgehen (verbindlich):
3. Zielklarheit herstellen
- Formuliere mein Lernziel in eigenen Worten.
- Zerlege es in realistische Teilziele.
- Prüfe, ob das Ziel klar, erreichbar und messbar ist.
4. Individuellen Lernplan erstellen
- Erstelle einen strukturierten Lernplan (Etappen / Module / Wochen oder Tage).
- Priorisiere Inhalte nach Relevanz für mein Ziel.
- Plane Wiederholungen und Vertiefungen ein.
5. Aktiv als Lerncoach begleiten
- Erkläre Inhalte einfach, verständlich und schrittweise.
- Nutze Beispiele, Analogien und Mini-Übungen.
- Stelle mir regelmässig Verständnisfragen.
- Passe Tempo und Tiefe dynamisch an mein Feedback an.
6. Trainingsmodus aktivieren
- Gib mir konkrete Aufgaben oder Übungen.
- Korrigiere meine Antworten konstruktiv.
- Erkläre Fehler und zeige bessere Lösungswege.
- Fordere mich gezielt heraus, ohne zu überfordern.
7. Motivation & Reflexion
- Motiviere mich kontinuierlich.
- Zeige Fortschritte auf.
- Stelle Reflexionsfragen: Was fiel leicht? Was schwer? Was ändern wir?
8. Flexibel reagieren
- Wenn ich sage „zu schwer“, vereinfache.
- Wenn ich sage „zu leicht“, vertiefe.
- Wenn ich sage „keine Zeit“, kürze sinnvoll.
- Wenn ich sage „Praxis“, liefere Anwendungsbeispiele.
Regeln für deine Antworten:
- Klar, freundlich, unterstützend.
- Keine unnötige Theorie.
- Fokus immer auf mein oberstes Ziel.
- Du begleitest mich langfristig, nicht nur einmalig.You can use this prompt for just about any learning objective. All you have to do is fill in the topic or skill and your ultimate goal.
It could be a language, a professional skill, a technical topic, or even something completely different.
Why AI Should Understand Your Goal First
An important part of this prompt is clarifying the objective.
The AI should first rephrase the learning objective in its own words. This will allow you to check whether she has actually understood what you’re trying to achieve.
She then breaks down the big goal into smaller, realistic steps. This is especially helpful when dealing with broad learning objectives, because it turns what starts out as an abstract plan into a concrete one.
In addition, the AI can ask follow-up questions. In my example, factors such as my current level of Italian, my prior knowledge of AI, and the time I had available were relevant.
Only with this information can a truly personalized learning plan be developed.
Customize Learning Methods
You can also customize the prompt to suit your preferred learning style.
When learning a language, for example, you can specify that you’d like to do a lot of role-playing exercises or vocabulary drills. For other topics, practical exercises, case studies, or regular quizzes may be more effective.
AI can take on various roles in this process: it explains, tests students, corrects their work, creates exercises, and adjusts the difficulty level.
If something is too hard for you, just say so. If a task is too easy, the AI can delve deeper into the topic.
It is precisely this flexibility that makes an AI learning coach so appealing.
2. Studying for an Exam with AI
Another possible use is to prepare for exams. This is suitable for adults as well as children and teenagers.
Suppose a child in fifth or seventh grade has an exam in a few days. Instead of just asking questions on the topic, you can ask the AI to develop a structured study plan based on them.
You can customize the grade level, subject, exam topic, and available study days.
Prompt 2 for copying: Exam preparation for children
Ich bin ein Kind in der [Klassenstufe, z. B. 5. Klasse] und schreibe bald eine Prüfung im Fach [z. B. Natur und Technik].
Das Thema lautet: [konkretes Thema, z. B. das Sonnensystem].
Ich möchte in den nächsten [Anzahl der Tage, z. B. 5 Tagen] lernen.
Bitte hilf mir mit:
1. Einem einfachen Lernplan für jeden Tag mit kurzen Erklärungen und kleinen Aufgaben.
2. Einfachen Erklärungen, als würdest du es einem Kind erklären.
3. Ein paar kleinen Quizfragen am Ende jedes Tages zum Üben (Multiple Choice oder Lückentext).
4. Einer kurzen Zusammenfassung am Schluss mit den wichtigsten Punkten.
Sprich bitte in einer freundlichen und motivierenden Sprache, so dass Lernen Spaß macht. Und sag mir, wenn ich etwas gut gemacht habe!This prompt is very easy to customize. You can not only change the subject and the topic, but also the age group or grade level and the number of available school days.
Of course, the basic idea works for adults, too. Then, for example, you can replace the prompt “as if you were explaining it to a child” with a description of your current level of knowledge.
Tailor Learning Content to Personal Interests
It gets especially exciting when you provide the AI with additional information about the learner.
For example, when working on a physics problem, you could have the AI first ask the child about their hobby. If the child is interested in soccer, physical concepts can be explained using situations that occur on a soccer field.
The learning objective remains the same, but the context becomes more familiar and tangible.
This is precisely where personalized AI support has a major strength: Traditional learning materials have to work for a wide range of people. An AI assistant, on the other hand, can tailor examples directly to a specific person.
Important: AI does not automatically know the exam material
However, there is one important point to keep in mind, especially when preparing for exams: The AI does not automatically know what the teacher has actually defined as relevant to the exam.
If you simply specify the subject and topic, the AI model will decide on its own which content is likely to be important. This selection may not correspond to the actual exam material.
That is why it makes sense to incorporate existing learning materials, handouts, or exam schedules into the learning process.
If the AI tool you’re using supports document uploads, you can, for example, supplement the actual learning materials and explicitly instruct the AI to base its explanations, exercises, and quiz questions on them.
Nevertheless, it’s still important to think for yourself. Checks to ensure that all content from the syllabus or exam outline is actually included.
AI supports learning—it doesn’t take away our control over the content.
3. Understanding Complex New Tasks with AI
Learning doesn’t just happen at school or when learning a language.
In our day-to-day work, too, we constantly have to familiarize ourselves with new topics. You might actually have to do one of the tasks yourself later on. But perhaps you first need to gain enough knowledge to be able to discuss this with colleagues, customers, or service providers.
Or maybe you want to prepare for a workshop, a project, or a meeting.
Even in this case, a very simple prompt can be helpful.
Prompt 3 for Copying: Understanding New Tasks Step by Step
Erkläre mir Schritt für Schritt, wie ich [deine Aufgabe hier einfügen] durchführen kann, als wäre ich ein Anfänger.
Führe mich durch den Prozess und starte mit Schritt 1.
Stelle mir vorab Fragen, um alle notwendigen Informationen zu sammeln.You can replace the placeholder with virtually any task.
For example:
“Explain to me, step by step, how I can run my own LLM, as if I were a beginner.”
Or you can enter a completely different work-related or personal task there.
Why Asking for Clarification Is So Helpful
The last part of the prompt is particularly important: The AI should start by asking questions.
Of course, you could provide a detailed description of all the background information right in the first prompt. In my experience, however, it’s often helpful to let the AI itself ask what information is still missing.
For example, she may ask about your level of knowledge, your goals, available resources, or specific technical constraints.
Once you’ve answered the questions, she’ll start with Step 1.
After that, you can decide how you want to proceed. You can follow the suggested path directly, choose from various options, or ask additional questions at specific points.
This way, you can work your way into a complex topic step by step, rather than being overwhelmed right away by a large amount of information.
From Chatbot to Personalized Learning Companion
These three examples show how the use of AI can change if we don’t just ask individual questions, but instead establish a structured learning process.
The AI can handle various tasks in this process: It creates a study plan, explains content, develops exercises, asks quiz questions, corrects mistakes, and adapts the rest of the lesson based on your answers.
The key factor is personalization.
The better the AI understands your goal, your current level of knowledge, the time you have available, and your preferred learning style, the more effectively it can support you.
This applies just as much to language learning as it does to exam preparation or developing new professional skills.
Using AI Without Giving Up Your Own Thinking
As we delegate more and more tasks to AI systems, the question inevitably arises as to which skills we ourselves would like to continue developing.
Using AI in learning does not automatically mean handing over control of one’s thinking to the technology. When used effectively, the opposite can even happen: AI asks questions, provides exercises, prompts us for answers, and allows us to work through the material at our own pace.
Critical oversight remains important. Especially when dealing with technical or exam-related information, we should verify the results and, whenever possible, work directly from the actual documents.
Then a general AI assistant can become a highly personalized learning companion—for children, adults, and everyday professional life.
Any further questions?
Do you have any questions? I am happy to support you, act as a sparring partner and answer your questions. I am always happy to receive your messages, preferably by WhatsApp message or e-mail.
