I Used AI to Study for the HSC. Here’s What Actually Helped (and What Was a Waste of Time)
Everyone in my grade used AI. Most of us used it badly. Including me, until I figured out how to make it work for me.
I don’t mean cheating, although sure, some people did that. I mean we’d paste in a question, get a perfect-sounding answer, nod along, and then walk into the exam and realise we couldn’t explain any of it ourselves. It felt like studying, but it wasn’t.
By the end of Year 12 I’d figured out a few ways of using it that actually made a difference, so here they are.
1. Make it quiz you, not teach you
This was the biggest change for me. Instead of asking “explain fiscal policy,” I’d write:
“I’m studying HSC Economics. Ask me 10 questions on fiscal policy, one at a time. Don’t give me the answer until I’ve tried.”
The first time I did this, I got about half of them wrong. These were topics I’d have said I “knew” because I’d read my notes three times. Turns out I could recognise the right answer but couldn’t produce it myself, and in an exam producing it is the only thing that counts.
Getting something wrong and then being corrected is where the learning happens. Reading a neat explanation feels productive, but your brain basically skims it.
2. Write first, then ask for feedback
For essays, the rule I set myself was simple: I write the paragraph, and AI only gets to critique it.
I’d paste in my paragraph and ask things like:
“Is my argument actually answering the question?”
“Where is my analysis just retelling the plot?”
“What would a marker say is missing?”
The plot one caught me constantly in English. I’d think I was analysing, but half my paragraph was just explaining what happened in the text. Having that pointed out every time eventually trained me out of it.
If you get it to write the paragraph for you, it’ll sound fine, but it won’t sound like you, and you’ll have nothing to fall back on in an exam room with no laptop. Teachers can usually tell, too.
3. Use it to translate the syllabus into normal English
Syllabus dot points can read like they were written to confuse you. I’d copy one in and ask, “What is this actually asking me to know? Give me an example of how it could be tested.”
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In Legal Studies, that turned vague stuff like “evaluate the effectiveness of legal and non-legal mechanisms” into a clear checklist: know the mechanisms, have a recent example for each, and be ready to say how well they work and why. That’s way easier to study than a sentence that sounds like a riddle.
4. Get it to argue against you
This one’s underrated for English and Legal. Once you’ve got a thesis, ask:
“Here’s my argument. Give me the strongest counterargument a smart marker might think of.”
Either you find a hole and fix it, or you get a counterpoint you can address in the essay, which makes your argument look way more sophisticated. Some of my best paragraphs started as a “yeah, but…” that AI threw at me.
5. Don’t trust it on facts
AI is confident even when it’s wrong. I once asked for a case to support a Legal essay and got a perfectly formatted case name, year and summary. It sounded completely legit. I went to look it up, and it didn’t exist.
It’s done the same with statistics and even quotes from texts I was studying, quoting lines that just weren’t in the book.
So treat it like a smart friend who sometimes bluffs. Check anything you’d actually put in an exam, like quotes, cases, data and dates, against your notes, your textbook, or a real source.
6. Use it to plan, not just to cram
When you’re overwhelmed, try something like:
“I have 3 weeks until trials, 6 subjects, and I’m weakest in Maths and Legal. Build me a realistic weekly study plan with breaks.”
Before trials, I had that panic where everything feels urgent so you end up doing nothing. Getting a rough plan in front of me broke that. It wasn’t perfect, and I had to shift things around my work shifts, but it gave me a starting point instead of a pile of notes and a bad feeling.
7. Turn your notes into flashcards
Paste in a section of your notes and ask it to turn them into question-and-answer flashcards. Then put them into Anki or Quizlet. I used Anki all through Year 12, and this saved me hours of typing out cards by hand. The actual memorising is still on you, which is the point.
The rule I’d give my younger self
Before you hit enter, ask: “Is this making me think, or doing the thinking for me?”
If it’s the first one, you’re studying. If it’s the second, you’re just borrowing answers you won’t have on exam day.
AI won’t get you a good mark. But used properly, it’s like having a tutor who’s awake at 11pm the night before your assessment, and honestly, that’s pretty useful.
