Is AI actually useful for learning a new skill from scratch, or does it just feel useful?

Summary

I've been spending the last few months trying to pick up woodworking as a hobby, starting from absolute zero. No prior experience, no mentor, just YouTube and curiosity. At some point I started leaning heavily on ChatGPT and Claude to answer questions, plan projects, troubleshoot mistakes, and explain techniques. And honestly it's been surprisingly good. Having a conversation with something that can explain why wood grain direction matters, then immediately follow up with beginner projec

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