Relatively unnoticed by the press or ChatGPT users though, the platform is currently experimenting on a new in situ function with the name Study Together, and it potentially represents a giant step towards defining the future of how artificial intelligence is leveraged to aid the learning process. This is a switched off feature, which is only seen in the tools menu of ChatGPT, which entails a collaborative Socratic type of learning. In contrast to the traditional ChatGPT communication meaning that users can get only the direct answers, Study Together is more participatory because the learner is being encouraged to give answers by asking questions and receiving feedback, learning how to answer by himself. This makes the tool sound like a virtual tutor, instead of a chatbot, where ChatGPT is used as a learning partner, instead of an answer machine.
The idea of the Study Together is consistent with active learning approaches that have long been formed in understanding that the acquisition of knowledge by students is more effective when they can study interactively and experiment with the material. Some of the late testers and AI researchers have observed that the tool employs a series of follow up queries to test the knowledge of the learner and evaluate his answers and customize the discussion accordingly. As it is still in the preliminary stages of testing, it is already speculated that the tool could in the future have features that accommodate multi-user group study, where users could collaborate and study under the watch of ChatGPTs AI. This peer-learning component is yet to be verified although the name implies that such functionality might be under development.
Up to now OpenAI has made no formal announcement about Study Together. Still, its presence in the tools menu and initial reports on its early use (in such resources as TestingCatalog and BleepingComputer) indicate that it is currently most likely tested on a limited scale (perhaps, on ChatGPT Plus or Pro subscribers). There has been no word, as yet, on when or even whether this feature might be released more generally, but OpenAI is evidently testing how its AI can be made less incompatible with ethical, real-life classroom usage. This call can be the sign of increased awareness of the dual-use role of AI in the classroom. On the one hand, ChatGPT can offer beneficial explanations; on the other hand, it has been recently pointed out that this technology can lead to cheating, plagiarizing, and poor development of critical thinking.
It seems that OpenAI aims to overcome those issues with the help of the Study Together service, which encourages healthy learning and does not reward easy solutions. Teachers have been keen on complaining of students putting more dependence on generative AI when completing assignments, essays, and homework. What if ChatGPT is able to make students reason, reflect, and reason their problems out? Then it may transform the nature of AI in education outside the context of dependency to one of creating empowerment. The feature can also be a part of the long-term OpenAI strategy to add an educational subscription tier or improvements to ChatGPT Enterprise for Education, which may be an opportunity to create AI tutoring environments to be used by schools and universities and customized to their needs.
The most interesting aspect of Study Together is that it allows the creation of a human teaching dynamic, where the AI speaks more as a coach or mentor. This method is not only ethical but more efficient in promoting the long term retention of knowledge. It may be especially useful in the distance learning, home schooling, or supplemental tutoring environments, where individual interaction is hard to come due. Although the current one is still tested as an experiment, its introduction demonstrates the intention of OpenAI to create structured learning tools helping students to understand instead of substitute them.
Study Together may become one of the education flagship items of Chat GPT in the nearest future. With its constant presence in the classroom, an AI-based tool that would promote a sense of curiosity, the empowerment of the learning process and deterring plagiarism might create the buzz that OpenAI would win the schools and academic institutions as users. At least, in the foreseeable future, the majority of users can only wait until the business completes testing and enlarges the range of access. However, the golden question is whether Study Together will be able to work as it is intended to work, and, in that case, it might redefine how millions of learners relate to AI as a virtual study companion, but not as an assistant to them.
