1 of 2 | An illustration picture shows the introduction page of ChatGPT, an interactive AI chatbot model trained and developed by OpenAI. ChatGPT has unveiled a new function on the widely used intelligence app that it claims will help students learn instead of just feeding them easy answers. File Photo by Wu Hao/EPA
July 29 (UPI) — ChatGPT has unveiled a new function on the widely used intelligence app that it claims will help students learn instead of just feeding them easy answers.
Research company OpenAI announced in a blog post Tuesday the addition of “study mode” for the chatbot that is capable of engaging in human-like conversations and offering quick answers to users’ questions. The company’s announcement appears aimed at concerns that since the launch of ChatGPT in 2022, the technology has contributed to student cheating, undercutting learning and a broader dumbing down of society.
Students who use the new mode to complete homework and prepare for exams will be “met with guiding questions that calibrate responses to their objective and skill level to help them build deeper understanding,” according to the company’s blog post.
ChatGPT draws on massive amounts of text to generate responses. Study mode was developed with input from teachers, scientists and other experts that OpenAI claims will encourage deeper learning while offering feedback. The new function includes interactive prompts, Socratic questioning, responses that seek to highlight connections, quizzes and other features.
Leah Belsky, OpenAI’s vice president of education, told TechCrunch in a press briefing that the company is not giving parents or administrators a way to lock students in study mode but said it may introduce those types of controls later.
Glenn Kleiman, a senior adviser at Stanford University’s graduate school of education, told EducationWeek that study mode will help educators but he had questions about how well it would work.
“These are unknowns at this point,” he said.
Study mode is available to logged in users for the Free, Plus, Pro and Team versions of the app. It will be available for its Edu version in coming weeks.