Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools like ChatGPT have been hailed as both a revolutionary resource and an apocalypse for education. Among graduate and doctoral students around me—and in my own everyday learning as a researcher—I see both futures playing out. How to use these tools to support learning as a budding researcher, rather than de-skill ourselves? This post reminds us that the doctoral journey is a learning journey and highlights a key aspect of any learning process, along with different ways we can engage in it. Then, I draw on research-based ideas to outline (tentative) principles for learning effectively with (or without) these AI tools.