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OpenAI announced Study Mode for ChatGPT on Tuesday, a new feature that fundamentally changes how students interact with artificial intelligence by withholding direct answers in favor of Socratic questioning and step-by-step guidance.
The launch represents OpenAI’s most significant push into the education technology market, which analysts project will reach $80.5 billion by 2030. Rather than simply providing solutions to homework problems, Study Mode acts more like a patient tutor, asking follow-up questions and calibrating responses to individual skill levels.
“We set out to understand how students are using ChatGPT and how we might make it an even better tool for education,” said Leah Belsky, OpenAI’s VP of Education, during a press conference ahead of the launch. “Early research shows that how ChatGPT is used in learning makes a difference in the learning outcomes that it drives. When ChatGPT is prompted to teach or tutor, it can significantly improve academic performance. But when it’s just used as an answer machine, it can hinder learning.”
The feature addresses a fundamental tension that has emerged since ChatGPT’s explosive adoption among students. While one in three college-aged Americans now use the AI tool, with learning as the top use case, educators have grappled with whether such tools enhance understanding or encourage academic shortcuts.
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How OpenAI’s Study Mode Uses Socratic Method to Replace Direct Answers
Study Mode employs what OpenAI calls “custom system instructions” developed in collaboration with pedagogy experts from over 40 institutions worldwide. When students ask questions, the AI responds with guided prompts rather than direct answers.
During a demonstration, Abhi Muchha, an OpenAI product manager, showed how asking ChatGPT to “teach me about game theory” in regular mode produces a comprehensive, textbook-like response. In Study Mode, however, the AI instead asks: “What’s your current level? What are you optimizing for?” before providing tailored, bite-sized explanations.
“We want this to be learner-led,” Muchha explained. “At each step, there’s a question that is asking students to try to build on top. What we’re doing here is scaffolding learning and teaching one topic, asking a question, and building on top of that.”
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