Q >> My daughter is going to be taking the SAT and wants to prepare as best she can. She’s also quite a fan of AI programs like ChatGPT. Is there any way she can use these AI programs to prep for the SAT?

A >> Absolutely. In fact, AI can be an excellent supplement to one of the many SAT study guides available. These guides are often available at used bookstores at a significant discount, and both the Boulder and Longmont public library have SAT Study Guides available for free.

Let’s consider a classic word problem that you might find in a standardized text like the Scholastic Aptitude Test:

“Jenna is buying apples and oranges. Apples cost $0.50 each, and oranges cost $0.75 each. If she spends $7.50 on a total of 12 fruits, how many apples did she buy?”

Before I go any further, pause for a moment, read that word problem again, and try to solve it yourself. Now, ask your daughter to figure out the solution.

Example problems, but how are they solved?

Where the test prep and study guide books really shine is that they typically have hundreds of questions that are directly from previous SAT exams. Going through that ensures that your child won’t be surprised and derailed by a type of question that they haven’t seen before.

But the weak spot of any printed book or recorded online study program is that you can’t ask questions. Perhaps your daughter said “Uh, um, I hate word problems, but… five apples and seven oranges?”

That’s not answering the posed question (remember, it just asked “how many apples”). Solving for the wrong question is quite common and a mistake to avoid in any testing situation, but doubly so with standardized tests like the SAT.

Where ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini, and many other AI programs are wonderful is that they can explain an answer. You can even ask for clarification or ask it to explain using different terminology:

ChatGPT Q: Don’t give me the answer, explain how to set up a solution for the word problem (as listed earlier).

ChatGPT A: The solution can be found with the following steps: Define variables, write equations, substitute or eliminate, substitute into the second equation, simplify, solve. Double check answer.

Total number of fruits equation: A + O = 12. Total cost equation: 0.50A + 0.75O = 7.50.

Now use the first equation to express one variable in terms of the other: O = 12 — A.

Substitute this new equation so that you eliminate O (oranges), then simplify and solve.

As you can see, it explains things neatly and clearly, helping the student learn how to solve these sort of problems rather than just presenting an answer.

Between the interactive nature of AI tools and the long-since honed value of study and test guides, your daughter should be able to ace the test.

Dave Taylor has been involved with the online world since the beginning of the Internet. He runs the popular AskDaveTaylor.com tech Q&A site and invites you to subscribe to his weekly email newsletter at AskDaveTaylor.com/subscribe/ You can also find his entertaining gadget reviews on YouTube at YouTube.com/AskDaveTaylor.