AI Tutor
The AI Tutor is the core of SeekPrep — a chat interface backed by specialist personas, each tuned for a different kind of learning task. This page explains what each persona is good at, what tools the tutor can use on your behalf, and how to get better answers.
How the AI Tutor is different from a generic chatbot
A generic chatbot answers from its training data and stops there. SeekPrep's AI Tutor can:
- Read your uploads — PDFs, slides, images, and text you've added to your Knowledge Base, then cite the source section.
- Search the web — when an answer needs current information.
- Run code in a sandbox — to verify, illustrate, or debug.
- Remember across sessions — so follow-ups don't lose context.
- Use external skills — math, science references, and tools you install.
The six specialist personas
Pick the persona that matches your task. You can switch mid-conversation.
| Persona | Best for | Example prompt |
|---|---|---|
| General Assistant | Everyday questions, brainstorming, drafting, explanations | "Help me draft an email to my professor." |
| Researcher | Multi-source research, comparing viewpoints, summaries of literature | "Compare the causes of WWI from three perspectives." |
| Whiteboard Tutor | Step-by-step worked problems, derivations, scaffolding | "Walk me through solving this calculus problem step by step." |
| Visual Tutor | Diagrams, charts, image-based explanations | "Draw a labeled diagram of the water cycle." |
| Problem Solver | Q&A and problem-solving grounded in your uploaded files and questions | "Explain quantum entanglement with a concrete example." |
| Quiz Generator | Producing practice questions, flashcards, and self-tests | "Generate 10 multiple-choice questions on cell biology." |
Skills & tools the tutor can use
The tutor decides when to use these based on your question. You don't invoke them directly — but knowing they exist helps you ask better questions.
- Web search — current events, recent papers, anything that needs fresh data.
- RAG (retrieval) — pulls from your Knowledge Base when a question relates to your uploaded material.
- STEM search — references from curated science and engineering sources.
- Code sandbox — runs Python and other code in an isolated environment.
- Tooluniverse — a registry of installable external tools that extend what the tutor can do.
- Memory — carries facts you've shared (your grade, your goals, prior answers) across sessions for continuity.
- Custom skills — skills you've added or that an admin has installed.
You can block any skill from the chat's Skills popover if you don't want the tutor using it.
Tips for getting better answers
- Pick the right persona. A STEM question to the General Assistant works, but the Problem Solver will go deeper.
- Upload context first. If you have a syllabus, textbook chapter, or assignment prompt, add it to your Knowledge Base so the tutor grounds its answer in your material.
- Ask for the format you want. "Give me a table," "in 3 bullet points," "as a worked example," "with a diagram" — the tutor will comply.
- Iterate. If the first answer misses, follow up: "go deeper on X," "simplify," "give me another example."
- Verify citations. When the tutor cites your Knowledge Base, click the citation to jump to the source section and confirm it.
Next steps
- Set up your Knowledge Base: Knowledge Base & RAG.
- Generate study material: Study Tools.