I have been working on a form of this for a language learning app [1]. The basic idea is that it gets you do free form output (discussion questions, word games, etc), gives you feedback on where you have errors and then sets up SR flashcards automatically (e.g. if you don’t know a word, conjugate it wrong, etc).

It uses embeddings to make inferences across exercises and flashcards. This is handy for:

- detecting that you already have a flashcard for that particular word/phrase/grammar issue

- you know one sense of a word but not another

- you correctly used a word that you have a flashcard for and that review can be put off

It can look at your vocab and grammar skills of a particular area overall using Rasch scoring. Perhaps you answer almost all the questions about “cooking” correctly but none about “parts of the body” - well then the app can focus on the second area.

There is also work to be done to build out better regressions given this data. If a word I am studying is way above my skill level, I will probably forget it faster. Or maybe I forgot a conjugation which is very common. It should be easier to remember because I’ll encounter it more.

Whether or not my app succeeds, I think these types of approaches hold a ton of promise to increase learning efficiency.

1. https://squidgies.app