By the end of this guide you will have taken a topic that feels too hard, such as a scientific idea, a financial concept or a dense paper, and turned it into an explanation you can repeat in your own words. The job is done by an AI chat assistant or a learning companion: you tell it what you already know, ask for a plain-language version, and keep asking until it clicks.
The trick behind "explain like I'm five" with AI is not the phrase itself but the follow-up: you set a level, ask for an example, then test yourself. This guide shows how, and compares six options from our Chat assistants category.
Key takeaways
- Tell the AI what you already know and what level you want, ask for an analogy, then explain the idea back and let it correct you.
- The main decision is the kind of tool: a general assistant, a learning companion with built-in "simplify" aids, or a tutor that teaches from your own material.
- Free access varies: Learn About is a Google experiment with no published pricing, Studdy describes its first lesson as free, and Mathos AI's Free plan needs no card.
- AI explanations can be simplified into something wrong. Check key facts against a reliable source, and use a professional for medical, legal or financial decisions.
What you need before you start
- The topic or text. A name, a question, or the passage you cannot follow, copied in full.
- Your starting point. A sentence on what you already understand, and your purpose, such as an exam, a work meeting or curiosity.
- An account. A free sign-up on a general assistant is enough for most topics.
- A way to check. A textbook, official site or reputable reference to confirm the facts.
- Time. A first pass takes under an hour, usually much less. Hard topics take several sessions.
- Difficulty. Easy. No technical skills are needed.
Which kind of AI tool fits this job
Choose by what you are trying to learn and what you are starting from.
General assistants for any topic. ChatGPT explains, summarises, searches the web and reads uploaded files and images, and the listing mentions studying among its common uses. Claude analyses documents, searches the web and keeps memory across conversations. Either is a flexible first stop when you want to paste in a confusing paragraph and ask for a simpler version.
A learning companion built around conversation. Learn About is a Google learning experiment. You ask questions and it adjusts to your curiosity and goals, offers interactive guides for harder ideas, and has aids such as Simplify, Go Deeper and Get images. Because it is presented as an experiment, features and availability may change.
Tutors that teach from your material. Studdy teaches on a virtual whiteboard, builds lessons from notes, slides, PDFs and textbook pages, and lets you interrupt to request another example. AI Tutor gives step-by-step explanations, summaries, quizzes and flashcards, and can generate a course on a topic you choose.
A specialist for maths. Mathos AI coaches through problems step by step from text, image or voice input (its Free plan limits image input), aiming to guide rather than hand over a copyable answer.
Step 1: State the topic and what you already know
A good explanation starts from your actual gap.
- Name the topic as precisely as you can, or paste the confusing passage.
- Write one or two sentences on what you already understand.
- Say why you need it, for example "for a job interview" or "to help my child".
- Name the word or step where you got lost.
Check it worked by reading your note back: it should show clearly where your understanding stops.
Step 2: Pick a tool and start a fresh chat
Match the tool to the job.
- For a quick explanation of anything, use a general assistant such as ChatGPT or Claude.
- For guided exploration, try Learn About, which offers interactive guides and a Simplify aid.
- For a chapter or slide deck you must learn, use Studdy, which builds lessons from uploaded material, or AI Tutor, which summarises study material and generates courses.
- Start a new conversation per topic so earlier chats do not confuse the answer.
Check it worked by being signed in and seeing a place to type or upload.
Step 3: Ask for the simple version at the right level
How you phrase the request shapes the explanation.
- Give the level: "explain this like I'm five", "explain it to a smart teenager" or "explain it to a new colleague with no background".
- Ask for a short answer first, then a longer one.
- Ask for an everyday analogy and say where it breaks down.
- Avoid asking for a summary of a long source you have not provided. Paste or upload the text so the explanation is based on it.
Check it worked by reading the answer and being able to restate the main idea in one sentence.
Step 4: Ask follow-up questions until it clicks
Understanding comes from digging in, not from the first answer.
- Ask "what do you mean by" for every term you do not know.
- Ask for a concrete example with real numbers or a real situation.
- Use built-in aids if the tool has them: Learn About offers Simplify to rewrite an explanation in plainer terms and Go Deeper to expand on it.
- Interrupt a tutor like Studdy to ask for another example or to have a section explained again.
Check it worked by asking a new question about the topic and finding the answer makes sense without more explanation.
Step 5: Explain it back and let the AI correct you
Teaching the idea back shows what you actually understood.
- Write the explanation in your own words, as if telling a friend.
- Paste it into the chat and ask the AI to point out errors or gaps, kindly but directly.
- Rewrite the parts it flagged.
- Ask it for three questions that test the idea, answer them, and ask for feedback.
Check it worked by answering the test questions without looking at the earlier explanation.
Step 6: Verify the facts that matter
A simple explanation can leave out the exception that matters.
- Pick the three facts or claims your understanding depends on.
- Check them against a textbook, official site or other reliable source.
- Ask the AI to list what its simple version leaves out or oversimplifies.
- Be extra careful with medical, legal and financial topics, and ask a qualified person before you act.
Check it worked by confirming each key claim from a source other than the AI.
Step 7: Lock it in with practice
A few minutes of review keeps the idea in your head.
- Ask for a short quiz or flashcards. AI Tutor lists auto-generated quizzes and flashcards, and Studdy writes practice questions from your own materials.
- Revisit the topic after a day and try to explain it without notes.
- For maths topics, work problems with a coaching tool such as Mathos AI, which offers flashcards and quizzes.
- Save your final plain-language summary somewhere you can find it.
Check it worked by explaining the topic to someone else without notes.
Tools for this job compared
| Tool | Good fit for | Pricing | Stated limits |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | Explaining anything, with web search and file or image questions, on web, iOS, Android and macOS | Freemium | Free plan has limited uploads, voice, deep research and memory; check the official pricing page |
| Claude | Explaining documents and long text, with memory across conversations | Freemium, paid from $17/mo (checked 24 Oct 2026) | Usage limits apply on every plan; Free plan does not include Research or the Opus model |
| Learn About | Conversational learning with Simplify and Go Deeper aids on the web | Pricing unknown | Presented as an experiment, so features and availability may change; no pricing published |
| AI Tutor | Step-by-step explanations, quizzes and editable generated courses | Free trial, paid from $16/mo (checked 24 Oct 2026) | Mentor plan capped at 150 tool uses a month; compare generated courses with your own syllabus |
| Studdy | Whiteboard lessons built from your notes, slides and PDFs | Free trial | Only the first lesson is described as free; paid plan prices are not published |
| Mathos AI | Step-by-step math coaching on web, iOS and Android | Freemium | Free plan limits image input and video minutes; outcome figures on the site are self-reported |
Prices and plan limits change, so confirm the current terms on each vendor's site before you subscribe.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Accepting the first simple answer. Simple versions can hide important exceptions. Ask what was left out, and check the facts that matter.
- Not saying who you are. Without a level, the AI guesses and often lands too high or too low. State what you know and what you need it for.
- Reading without testing yourself. An explanation feels clear until you try to repeat it. Explain it back and answer quiz questions.
- Asking about a source you did not provide. The AI may guess at a paper or article it cannot see. Paste or upload the text and ask about that.
- Using it for decisions it should not make. Medical, legal and financial questions need a qualified person. Use the AI to understand the vocabulary and prepare questions, not to decide.
How we put this together
This is an evidence-based guide built from each tool's listing in our directory, which is compiled from the vendor's own site and pricing page. It is not a review based on using the tools. We don't rank tools, and nobody paid to be included. Some outbound links may be affiliate links; see our disclosure.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a free way to get AI to explain a topic?
Yes. ChatGPT and Claude both have free plans with limits, Mathos AI's Free plan needs no card, and Studdy describes its first lesson as free. Learn About has no published pricing on its sign-up page, so check what it currently offers.
Can AI explain things accurately?
It can explain many topics clearly, but it can also be wrong or oversimplify, and that risk rises with specialist or fast-moving subjects. Check the key facts against a reliable source, and ask a professional for medical, legal or financial matters.
What should I type to get a simple explanation?
Give the topic, your current level and the level you want, for example "explain photosynthesis to a ten-year-old, then give me an analogy". Then follow up with "what do you mean by" for any term you do not know, and ask for an example.
Which tool is good for studying from my own notes?
Studdy builds lessons from uploaded notes, slides, PDFs and textbook pages, and AI Tutor offers summaries, quizzes and flashcards. A general assistant like ChatGPT also reads uploaded files. Check each plan's upload limits first.
Can I keep my questions private?
Not automatically. Read each vendor's data terms before you paste in personal, work or exam material, and avoid sharing confidential documents with a tool you have not checked.
Compare more options in our Chat assistants category, or try our guide to learning math with an AI tutor.
