Show HN: Create mind maps to learn new things using AI

[arthurtakeda]

Enter a topic and get a learning mind map generated by an LLM with links to learn more about each subtopic.

You can use it with local models (through Ollama) or external models.

If you have any feedback, please share it! Hope it's useful

Demo: https://youtu.be/Y-9He-tG3aM

[andai]

Very interesting!

My first thought when seeing this is, could I use this as a "progress map" for a subject I'm learning? So add my own notes, and use AI to find and recommend more resources?

My second thought is, can you build one of these for everything I've ever learned, and want to learn?

I've long (15 years?) been waiting for a system that knows not only my interests, but my knowledge, and can use that data to find or generate the optimal learning experience for any subject.

(Khan Academy used to have a big interconnected graph of how all the knowledge on their platform fit together (dependencies) but for some reason they removed it...)

AI is getting pretty close, especially now that they've rolled out memory and conversations... wild times we live in!

[elric]

> Khan Academy used to have [...] but for some reason they removed it

I'm quite saddened by all the stuff that's been removed from Khan Academy over the years. Most of the non-maths content has been removed. The knowledge graph has been removed, etc. I've stopped donating to them because every time I use it, the experience has gotten worse.

[artur_makly]

@andai check out https://www.perplexity.ai/spaces its _kind of_ what you are describing.. it's UX is unstructured compared to a mind-map or timeline. But we are starting to see the nascent stages of where all this is going. exciting times indeed.

[matly]

You could take a look at Obsidian [1], or similar knowledge management tools. There is certainly a lot of movement in the plugin ecosystem right now, for example the obsidian-canvas-llm-extender [2], which (likely) does what you're asking for.

1: https://obsidian.md/ 2: https://github.com/phasip/obsidian-canvas-llm-extender

[ru6xul6]

I had the exact same wish for an interconnected knowledge map, so I'm building it myself! Please check out https://onri.ai, which plots all human knowledge on a Google Map, with their dependencies. I'm still building out the navigation algorithm and user features, but please let me know whether that fits your use case :)

[hm-nah]

Smells like a knowledge graph

[arthurtakeda]

that's a very interesting use case, could be the long-term vision for the project, thanks for sharing!

[simonbarker87]

Nice example of using AI for something but (like most “mind map” tools) the output isn’t a mind map, it’s a spider diagram.

The point of a mind map is to label the line and not the node. This helps the brain form a visual and spacial connection between ideas where the lines act as bridges to the next concept/idea.

Not faulting the creator here, looks like a solid implementation of AI making spider diagrams, good job.

30 years of people misusing mind maps and no one reading the Tony Buzan book have brought us to this point though where no one actually knows what mind maps are or why they are so powerful.

[7734128]

If most people are using a term "wrong", then they are using it correctly.

[kqr]

I thought this was the difference between mindmaps (anonymous connections between things) and concept maps, where edges are directed and labeled such that (node, edge, node) triplets form propositions.

I agree concept maps are more useful but at this point I do think they deserve their own word.

[QuantumGood]

I looked it up out of curiosity. In Buzan's "The Mind Map Book" (and other books by him), he suggests mind maps can significantly enhance learning, memory, and creative thinking, and that labeling lines/branches:

• Creates meaningful connections between concepts

• Allows more fluid and associative thinking

• Allow for greater creativity and recall compared to spider diagrams

He suggests using curved lines, colors and images, and to develop your own personal style of mind mapping

[xgboost3d]

Very cool! Similar to mind map extraction and search in airesearch.js.org and you can integrate specific functions. For example it would help the mind map for it to be self organizing in the nodes and connections

[airstrike]

I'd say the README should have a pic of the results otherwise I have to install it and run it to see if I want to install it and run it

Also why not host it online and let users bring their own keys?

[arthurtakeda]

just updated the readme with the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-9He-tG3aM

I considered that but if I were the user I'd be wary of adding my own keys to a random person's website haha, but now that you mentioned that, since the code it's open-source I guess it's fine, thanks for the feedback!

[pier25]

The point of making mind maps by hand is that they help you memorize and study by synthesizing a topic.

If this is done by AI it's pretty much pointless.

[InkCanon]

One of the reasons I think LLMs should not be in most parts of education. There is a huge body of research about the importance of deliberate practice. High quality learning needs effort. A lot of these tools perform the ostensible ritual of learning - note taking, mind mapping, etc - and make them frictionless, thus rendering them worthless.

[elric]

Agreed. I wouldn't be opposed to a (local) LLM inside my Obsidian vault; but not for writing notes, but rather for discovering connections between notes. That's something that would actually help me. Generating mind maps like this? Not so much.

[knighthack]

It's not quite pointless. A prepared outline/mind-map gives you a roadmap for learning beforehand; it can function like a good index.

It's better to memorize domain knowledge upon paths that are clearly understood (thus you are memorizing well-worn, acceptable paths), rather than synthesizing your understanding of a topic as you go along. The second is prone to mistakes and mistaken understanding, unless you're a subject matter expert or charting new domains of knowledge.

[simonbarker87]

Came here to say this. Also, most mind map implementations are actually spider diagrams which (while useful) are not mind maps, the point of a mind map is the label the line and not the node.

[ainiriand]

That is really cool. I am very much into learning with the support of AI.

Last month I started to learn Rust and I used this prompt to help me:

'I am an experienced software engineer who wants to learn Rust, design a learning path for 3 months, with daily goals. Try to have a good balance of learning and working exercises using available resources like Rustlings or Learn rust by example. Output this path in markdown and add space to gather my learnings in a note at the end of each week.'

Maybe with some tweaks can be useful to someone else!

[aquariusDue]

I'd also recommend the wonderful 100 Exercises to Learn Rust authored by Luca Palmieri who also wrote Zero To Production in Rust. I'm halfway through the exercises and I find them to complement Rustlings and The Book perfectly.

So yeah, 100 Exercises to Learn Rust is what finally made traits (especially From and Into), impls and trait bounds finally click for me and I can't recommend it enough.

[dr_dshiv]

Would be great to have a video of it working so I can see what it does before installing. Thanks!

Also, I’m generally interested in UIUX variations around LLMs. Hoping to see a round up of examples like this, at some point.

[arthurtakeda]

just uploaded a demo on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-9He-tG3aM thanks for checking out!

[wonger_]

This reminds me of https://tree-of-knowledge.org/, posted a few months ago on HN. The branching/exploratory/canvas approach is better UX than a chat box.

[andai]

Why the heck did this get flagged? Almost all the comments are positive.

[airstrike]

The worst part is we can't even vouch for it?

[InkCanon]

Would also like to know this.

[sourcepluck]

I wonder has the author of this project seen the discussions here on tacit knowledge (which a lot of comments here seem to almost be touching off) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29531947

[graypegg]

Neat! Though I feel like this needs to be "integrated" into something else to achieve full potential. I think a lot of people end up falling down wikipedia rabbit holes (me included!) and something where my browser can provide the same sort of "topic quicklinks" that wikipedia articles have [0] but for anywhere on the web? I'd love that!

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Very_high_frequency#Electromag... (deep linked to the "Electromagnetic Spectrum" topic quick links, but you might have to click the accordion control to unfold it)

[null0pointer]

I like this a lot. Great for autodidacts like myself. Often when entering a new topic I’m faced with many unknown unknowns. I don’t know _what_ I should be learning. So having an LLM effectively lay out a course of study would be very helpful.

[arthurtakeda]

glad you liked it! hope it’s useful

[afro88]

How do you generate / validate the links to learn more? If they're generated by the LLM there's a really high chance they are hallucinated and won't work.

[downboots]

Human intervention would be necessary for any kind of reliable knowledge curation if that were the goal . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Brain

[arthurtakeda]

to be quite honest, I don't, just manually tested with different topics and got working links almost every time but agree, that can definitely happen

[adfm]

SimpleMind plays well with LLMs and OPML.

https://simplemind.eu/blog/mapping-your-thoughts-with-chatgp...

[artur_makly]

nice work!

hmm...perhaps there could be some compounded synergies with my https://VisualFlows.io

// also made with ReactFLoW. i will DM you..

[pryelluw]

Could you add a screenshot based demo or example to the main page?

[hmottestad]

Do you have any examples to look at? All I can see in the readme is a page with a search field and no mind maps.

[arthurtakeda]

just uploaded a demo on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-9He-tG3aM thanks for checking out!

[SuperHeavy256]

I love the idea but, I have no Open AI API credits

[airstrike]

"OpenAI API" has sort of become a standard API for any models through other tools which expose identical end points regardless of the underlying model. You can use ollama for that

[arthurtakeda]

If you setup Ollama and download a local model, all you have to do is follow the readme instructions, let me know if you need any help!