The school year kicks off soon, and as always, students are looking for shortcuts. Enter ChatGPT’s new “study mode,” a so-called solution to this age-old problem. This feature aims to keep students from using the bot as a homework crutch by nudging them toward the Socratic method. Instead of spoon-feeding answers, it tosses back open-ended questions. It’s available to most users, even those on the free version, but let’s not kid ourselves—kids will find a way to exploit it.
OpenAI’s been shaking up education like a bull in a china shop. Students jumped on ChatGPT early, with OpenAI claiming it’s a boon if used as a tutor. But here’s what this really means: if you use it like an answer machine, you might as well kiss genuine learning goodbye. Leah Belsky from OpenAI admits it can boost performance when it teaches, but if it’s just regurgitating answers, it’s a hindrance. Shocking.
The allure of ChatGPT’s study mode is a click away from direct answers, which can be hard to resist for students still developing critical thinking. It’s like handing a kid a credit card with no limit. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this circus. Remember CliffNotes? Now there are apps like ByteDance’s Gauth that solve homework with a simple snap. The immediacy and customization of chatbots are just the latest escalation.
Sam Altman, OpenAI’s CEO, likens the panic over AI to the freakout over Google back in the day. He sees AI as a tool to help you “think better.” Yeah, and calculators were going to ruin math skills too, right? But here’s the rub: using AI as a tool requires discipline, something not every student—or adult—has in spades.
ChatGPT’s study mode is supposed to make you engage deeper with the material, asking you to clarify your learning goals and current knowledge level. Fine in theory, but in practice? Students will say what they think it wants to hear to get the answer faster. OpenAI is partnering with Stanford to assess AI’s impact on education, riding the coattails of a recent executive order pushing AI in classrooms. But let’s not ignore the elephant in the room: what’s this doing to our kids’ critical thinking skills long-term?
Even if research shows AI tools like study mode boost learning, there’s a nagging worry. Are we breeding a generation too reliant on AI to think for themselves? It’s not about what ChatGPT can do; it’s about how it’s used. Students can still bypass the system, snapping a picture of their homework and letting AI give them the easy way out.
In the end, ChatGPT’s study mode might guide students through material, but the real challenge is ensuring they truly understand it. The AI age has made it easier than ever to find answers, but the answer isn’t the point—the learning is.
