CONCORDIA 2026

Tips and Tricks for Being a Good Student in the LLM Era

"You can't outsource the struggle and still get the skill"
Gustavo Pinto
Gustavo Pinto
Introduction

LLMs have changed
how we work

  • Idea generation
  • Coding assistance
  • Academic writing
  • Literature search

A growing number
of concerns

  • Accountability
  • Hallucinations
  • Inaccurate references
  • Unsupported claims
Introduction
How could we take better advantage of LLMs—
without falling in these traps?
This Work

Where this comes from

Reddit posts analysis
Overview

6 tips to thrive survive in the LLM era

01
Learn how to learn
02
Read widely. Think deeply.
03
You are the author, not the LLM
04
Automate everything non-critical
05
Know how to use LLMs properly
06
Be yourself, don't be an LLM
TIP 01

Learn how to learn

"You can't outsource the struggle and still get the skill"

TIP 02

Read widely. Think deeply.

O Alienista
O Alienista
Machado de Assis · 86 pages
The Gambler
The Gambler
Dostoevsky · 191 pages
How Much Land?
How Much Land
Does a Man Need?
Tolstói · ~40 pages
TIP 03

You are the author, not the LLM

TIP 04

Automate everything non-critical.

"If you don't fundamentally understand what you're programming… you'll almost certainly make mistakes."

TIP 05

Know how to use LLMs properly

TIP 06

Only you can be you

Overview

6 tips to thrive survive in the LLM era

01
Learn how to learn
02
Read widely. Think deeply.
03
Evaluate the LLM output
04
Automate everything non-critical
05
Know how to use LLMs properly
06
Be yourself, don't be an LLM
www.gustavopinto.org