I've been doing the same. Sometimes chatting with with bot gives me something I can confirm and the process feels like I'm learning more than I would had I been

I've been doing the same. Sometimes chatting with with bot gives me something I can confirm and the process feels like I'm learning more than I would had I been reading the textbook. Sometimes the bot can't help, but by the time I come to that conclusion I'm now familiar enough to ask the professor in a way that doesn't feel like a waste of his time. Your O-chem professor sounds like a jerk, but there probably is some merit, in general, to the idea that we can maximize the efficacy of teachers by thinking a bit harder about the questions first.