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I've been using GPT-4 ChatGPT in this style so here's my specific use case. I'm currently studying MIT's 8370 quantum information science course because my background in understanding the fundamentals of error correction is pretty poor and I need it for work.

I have a bachelors in physics but I wasn't a great maths student in university (the folly of youth) so my linear algebra could be better. On the other hand, I'm not going to redo linear algebra as a pre-requisite for this course. I also haven't done the pre-requisite QC courses, though I'm much more comfortable in that domain.

I don't use ChatGPT to teach me the concepts in the course, I use it as an empathetic tutor to fill in the blanks. If I see a linear algebra identity I'm not familiar with I can ask ChatGPT, telling it the context and what I already know and it'll give me an answer in that context with solid mathematical grounding but (because I ask for it) intuitive justifications. The alternative of stackoverflow, wikipedia, or other online notes can be hard to search for and even when I find a good answer, it's often needlessly mathy and complex. I don't have to worry about hallucination because it is just a gap and once I understand it, usually what the lecturer said makes perfect sense.

In one lecture the lecturer had a throw-away line about stabilisers corresponding to syndrome measurements but didn't elaborate much further. I didn't get how the corresponding circuit would be constructed so I went to ChatGPT and asked it my question with what I knew and the context. In that case, it pushed back and told me that what I knew was wrong. I had formed a misconception which it corrected and gave me an example to show why I was wrong.

I guess I don't use it as a lecturer, or even a tutor. I use it as the really smart guy you sit next to in a lecture theatre who you whisper questions to.




Thanks for sharing! That's really cool and helpful, I've noticed my own linear algebra is shaky and what you described seems like one of the better ways to use ChatGPT.




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