The Problem with Video Learning Isn't the Videos—It's What Happens After
Why we're building an AI tutor that guarantees you actually learn, not just watch
Quick trivia about me: before I even knew it, I was always passionate about understanding things. Growing up, I never settled for what things looked like—I always wanted to know what was going on on the inside. Naturally, this resulted in destructive habits like breaking my toys apart to see how they worked, and I got into a lot of trouble for this. But the upside was that whenever I was trying to learn something, I was naturally driven to understand it deeply.
This passion for understanding led me to become a scholarship student and in the end I graduated cum laude. I know what real learning feels like—and I know the difference between understanding something and truly mastering it.
That difference haunted me through every late-night study session. You know the feeling: you watch a video, read a chapter, feel like you "get it"—then sit down to actually apply the knowledge and realize you're completely lost. Alone in the jungle with no teacher nearby.
That anxiety—that gap between feeling like you understand and actually being able to perform—is exactly what drove me to build HoverNotes.
The Learning Fear I Recognized
I remember this visceral fear from school: when you read a concept, you feel confident. But then you face the exercises, and suddenly you're terrified because you'll be alone with the problem. You can't ask for help. You either know it or you don't.
I loved having a teacher close by during those first attempts. I'd try, fail, ask for help, understand, and try again. But when I had no teacher? I'd stick to repeating the examples because I could easily see where I failed. I just hated being in the jungle alone until I was competent.
That's the fundamental problem with video learning: you watch, you feel like you understand, but then you're thrown into the jungle alone to apply what you supposedly learned.
The Illusion of Knowledge
Here's what happens with traditional video learning:
- Watch video → Feel like you understand (but it's just familiarity)
- Take notes → Create external storage of information
- Move to next video → Assume learning happened
- Try to apply knowledge → Discover it never actually entered your brain
- Experience panic → Realize you're alone with no teacher
We've built an entire industry around content consumption and called it education. But consuming information isn't learning—it's just entertainment with academic guilt.
80% of what you watch is forgotten within 24 hours. You can't apply the knowledge. You have no idea what you actually retained.
Why I'm Building an AI Tutor
Solve the Video Learning Problem
No more fake understanding or learning anxiety. HoverNotes ensures you actually master concepts through AI-powered active learning and spaced review.
The only scientifically proven methods for long-term retention are active recall and spaced repetition. But here's the problem: traditional testing creates anxiety that blocks learning.
So I asked: What if we could get all the benefits of testing without any of the fear?
What if you could have that teacher always nearby during your first attempts?
Instead of harsh grading:
WRONG! Score: 15/20
You failed the quiz.
We provide supportive teaching:
🤔 "I can see you're thinking about this the right way!
You've got the main concept. Let me help you with
the specific part that's tricky here..."
It's not a quiz—it's a conversation with an infinitely patient teacher who's always available for those scary first attempts.
The Core Promise
"We guarantee you'll actually learn this content, not just consume it."
When you finish learning with HoverNotes, you don't just have notes about React hooks—you have new neural pathways that make you capable of building with React hooks. You're not just informed about machine learning—you can actually implement algorithms.
You're not just informed. You're armed with working knowledge.
How We Actually Achieve This
1. Watch Videos (But with Purpose)
You bring your own content—YouTube tutorials, Coursera courses, university lectures. Our AI watches alongside you, understanding both visual and audio content.
2. AI Tutor Checks Understanding
Through gentle, conversational questions, we scan your brain for gaps in understanding. Not punitive quizzes—supportive exploration.
3. Fill the Gaps with Personalized Teaching
When we find gaps (and we always do), we generate targeted teaching moments. Failed a concept about React hooks? The AI creates a custom visual explanation just for you.
4. Adaptive Difficulty
Master something quickly? We generate a more challenging scenario. Struggling? We scaffold with progressively easier questions until you build confidence.
5. Spaced Repetition for Retention
We schedule reviews to ensure knowledge sticks long-term. Because learning isn't just about understanding—it's about remembering when you need it.
Meeting Videos Where They Live
We're building this as a Chrome extension because learning happens where content lives—YouTube, Coursera, Udemy, anywhere videos play.
No downloading, no uploading, no platform switching. You bring your own content, we bring the learning guarantee.
This constraint actually makes the product stronger. We meet users where they are, with the content they choose.
The Personal Mission
My destructive curiosity as a kid—taking apart toys to understand how they worked—was really about this deep need to actually understand, not just observe.
That same drive led me to academic success because I couldn't settle for surface-level knowledge. I needed to understand the mechanism, the why, the how-it-actually-works.
But I also remember the anxiety of those first attempts without a teacher. The fear of being alone in the jungle with complex problems.
HoverNotes is the teacher I wish I'd had during those moments.
An AI that ensures you never have to fake understanding. That stays with you during those vulnerable first attempts. That bridges the gap between watching content and actually mastering it.
From Content Consumption to Brain Modification
This isn't about better note-taking or faster video watching. It's about transforming online learning from content consumption into brain modification.
Real learning is when your neural pathways physically change. When you become capable of things you couldn't do before.
Most learning tools optimize for content delivery. We optimize for knowledge transfer.
The Future We're Building
I envision a world where:
- No one fakes understanding because they have an AI tutor that ensures real mastery
- Video backlogs become opportunities instead of sources of guilt
- Learning anxiety disappears because you're never alone in the jungle
- Knowledge actually sticks because it's properly injected, not just consumed
Why This Matters to Me
That kid who broke apart toys to understand how they worked grew up to build tools that break apart the learning process to understand how knowledge actually gets into brains.
My academic success wasn't because I was naturally smart—it was because I was obsessively driven to understand things deeply. I know what real learning feels like, and I know most online education isn't creating that experience.
We're not building another note-taking app. We're building the teacher that ensures you actually learn.
Because that transformation—from confusion to competence, from watching to mastering—that's worth guaranteeing.
Ready to experience learning that actually guarantees understanding? Try HoverNotes and never fake knowledge again.