5 follow-up questions Nvidia’s CEO asks his AI to ‘torture’ it into teaching him new things

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said he likes to “torture” his AI. 

Jensen Huang’s method of learning from AI probably sounds more like an interrogation.

During an interview at Hong Kong University, the Nvidia CEO encouraged people to “get an AI as a tutor,” revealing that he often talks to his chatbot in order to learn more.

“I use my AI,” he said, “and I torture my AI to teach me.”

Huang’s form of “torture” involves asking the AI a question and then five follow-up queries. First, he asks why it gave its answer. Then, he prompts the AI to break it down to him “step by step.” Next, he has it explain its reasoning in different ways.

He then asks the chatbot to “apply this reasoning to something else” and finally requests some analogies.

While Huang’s preferred learning process is drilling chatbots with questions, companies are developing more specialized tools for teaching users. In November, Google launched “Learn About,” a new AI tool that acts as a conversational learning guide for users exploring educational topics.

In March, education platform Khan Academy introduced its chatbot, Khamingo, designed to help students with various subjects such as math, writing, and programming. Powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4, the chatbot doesn’t provide answers outright but guides users on how to solve problems.

Founder Sal Khan said in a TED Talk that he predicts each student will eventually have an “artificially intelligent, but amazing, personal tutor.” Some teachers are already incorporating AI into their curriculum for more personalized teaching assistance with each student.