I Started Blogging About AI—Then Realized I Was Studying Twice

 When I started studying AI at university in my 50s, I began writing about what I learned on my blog.

At first, my reason was simple:

I didn't want to forget what I had learned.

But writing changed the way I studied.

The moment I tried to explain an AI feature to another beginner, I often found myself stopping halfway through a sentence.

“Wait—do I actually understand this well enough to explain it?”

That's when I realized something unexpected:

I wasn't just recording what I had learned. I was studying it again.

---

✍️ Writing Exposed the Gaps in My Understanding

During a lecture or hands-on experiment, it's easy to think, I understand this.

Writing about it is different.

When I try to explain something in simple language, the gaps become obvious.

Do I really understand this term?
Am I describing this feature correctly?
Could another beginner follow my explanation?

My blog started as a place to save what I learned.

It gradually became a place where I discovered what I still needed to learn.

---

🤖 Then AI Became My Second Check

When I wasn't sure about something, I started showing my explanation to AI.

I would ask:

“Is my understanding correct? What am I missing?”

Sometimes it helped me catch an incorrect technical term.

Other times, it introduced a related feature or concept I hadn't known about—and suddenly, checking a blog draft had turned into another study session.
🔗 I even used ChatGPT to build a step-by-step plan for learning ChatGPT itself.

My process gradually became:

📚 Learn → ✍️ Write → 🤖 Ask AI → 🔎 Verify → ✏️ Rewrite

That's why I sometimes feel as if I'm studying twice.

Once when I learn something new.

And again when I try to explain it accurately.

---

🔎 But AI Doesn't Get the Final Word

There is an important step in that cycle:

Verify.

AI can give incorrect information, sometimes with surprising confidence.

So when it gives me an important technical detail, an official feature name, or information that may have recently changed, I don't simply add it to my post.

I check the important facts again, preferably with an official source.

This has become especially important as I write more about AI tools, because their features and interfaces can change quickly.

For me, AI isn't the final authority.

It's a learning partner that helps me discover what I should question and verify next.

---

💡 Try My Two-Step Study Method

You don't need to be a blogger to try this.

1️⃣ Explain what you learned in your own words.

Use a blog, Google Doc, notebook, or even a simple note on your phone.

2️⃣ Ask AI to challenge your explanation.

Try this:

I'm learning about [topic]. Here's how I understand it. Please point out anything inaccurate or missing, and tell me what I should verify with an official source.

Then check the important points yourself.

The goal isn't to let AI do the thinking for you.

It's to discover what you don't understand yet.

---

🌱 What Blogging Taught Me About Learning AI

I thought I was blogging about what I had learned.

Instead, blogging became part of how I learn.

Writing makes me explain.
AI makes me question.
Verification makes me check again.

And somewhere in that cycle, I learn the same subject a little more deeply the second time.

Maybe that's why writing about AI has become one of my favorite ways to study it. 🌱