AI Study Buddy

A Multi Source Grounded AI Tutor

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AI Study Buddy

Inspiration

Studying is honestly a mess right now. You use one app for PDFs, another for flashcards, and ChatGPT for questions — but ChatGPT doesn't even know what's in your textbook, so it just makes stuff up sometimes. I saw a friend get a wrong formula from an AI chat because it wasn't even reading the actual PDF, just guessing. That's when it clicked: why not build ONE app that does everything, but actually reads your notes and PDFs first so it doesn't lie to you?

So I built AI Study Buddy — one place for summaries, flashcards, quizzes, voice tutoring, and even help with scholarships and resumes.

What it does

Basically it's one app that does everything you'd normally need 5 apps for.

Upload anything, get real answers You can drop in PDFs, Word docs, slides, notes, images, even YouTube video links. Then you can literally ask questions about them and it answers with actual citations/excerpts from your material — not just a random guess.

Turns your notes into study tools instantly From one upload it can make:

  • Bullet summaries + key takeaways
  • Flashcard decks
  • Timed quizzes / mock exams
  • Mind maps
  • Step-by-step study roadmaps and infographics Helps you actually remember stuff
  • Flashcards use the SM-2 spaced repetition trick so you review a card right before you'd forget it
  • Mock tests give instant scoring + explanations
  • A "weakness detector" asks you five questions and then tells you where you're weak
  • A "deep thinking workbench" breaks down hard math/science problems step by step instead of just giving the answer Talk to it out loud
  • Real voice tutor you can have an actual back-and-forth conversation with
  • "StudyCast" turns your long notes into a 2-host podcast episode you can just listen to Beyond just studying
  • Finds scholarships that match your field, GPA, country, etc.
  • Recommends unis/degrees based on your profile and goals
  • Builds an ATS-friendly resume for college apps or internships
  • Converts files between PDF/DOCX/text Study with friends + track progress
  • Group study rooms with shared timer, notes, live chat
  • Dashboard that tracks streaks, retention, time per subject, and gives you a downloadable PDF progress report ## How we built it

I built the site with React 19 + TypeScript + Vite + Tailwind CSS, powered by Google Gemini AI, Firebase (Firestore & Auth), and Three.js for 3D graphics. The main trick is: when you upload a document, the app breaks it into pieces and only answers using those pieces — it doesn't just "wing it" from memory. That's what stops it from making stuff up.

For flashcards I used the SM-2 spaced repetition idea, basically the better you know a card, the longer it waits before showing it again:

$$ I_n = I_{n-1} \cdot E $$

where $E$ goes up when you get it right and down when you don't. Simple idea, but it makes reviewing way smarter than just "see every card every day."

Challenges we ran into

  • Getting the AI to stop making stuff up and actually stick to the uploaded document was harder than I thought
  • Making one app work well for totally different subjects (calculus vs law briefs) without it feeling broken
  • Voice tutor lag — making it feel like a real conversation and not a slow robot
  • Squeezing in extra features like scholarships/resume builder without the app feeling all over the place

  • Just being a small team trying to build "all-in-one," so I had to pick what to make really good vs what to keep simple for now

    Accomplishments that we're proud of

  • Getting the AI tutor to actually cite the exact source instead of hallucinating, which was the whole point of the app

  • Shipping a working voice tutor that feels like a real conversation, not just typing out loud

  • Fitting summaries, flashcards, quizzes, mind maps, voice, AND career tools (scholarships, resume, uni recommender) into one app that doesn't feel like five apps glued together

  • Actually launching it live at yourstudybuddy.online during the hackathon, not just a mockup

    What I learned

The biggest thing I learned is that people don't care about cool AI features if they can't trust the answer. A voice tutor is cool, but if it gives you a wrong page citation right before your exam, that's way worse than not having it at all. So I focused most of my time on making the AI actually stick to your real notes instead of adding more flashy stuff.

What's next for AI Study Buddy

  • More subjects and deeper content in each hub
  • Adding an instant homework helper — upload a question and it gives you the answer (right now there's a chatbot that helps you solve homework)
  • Better citations across multiple documents at once
  • Group study features getting more collaborative (shared whiteboards, live quizzes)
  • Making the voice tutor faster and more natural
  • Expanding the scholarship/university matching with more real-time data Check it out: yourstudybuddy.online

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