https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/chatgpts-tool-for-students-is-great-in-theory-wobbly-in-practice
2025-08-11
By---Sandra Davie is senior education correspondent at The Straits Times.
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Amid rising concerns on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools by students, ChatGPT has launched a Study Mode option to encourage responsible academic use of the chatbot.
When a student selects the new mode and poses a question, the bot becomes a tutor and explains each step of the solution instead of jumping directly to the final answer.
For example, when students ask for help with Bayes’ theorem, a mathematical formula, the bot asks what level of maths they are comfortable with and what their goal is before initiating a gradual learning process.
Study Mode is being released as universities around the world grapple with the issue of AI misuse among their students.
In Singapore, the debate became heated in June after Nanyang Technological University decided to award three students zero marks for an assignment after discovering they had used generative AI tools in their work.
Will it harm or help?
Besides the issue of academic misuse and whether AI helps or hinders learning, emerging research has also raised concerns on AI’s impact on kids’ brains.
One study released in June 2025 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology compared students who were asked to use ChatGPT to write SAT essays with those who wrote them with no tools and those who wrote them with the help of Google.
They found that the students who used ChatGPT had lower brain engagement and “consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic and behavioural levels”.
US media reports have pointed out that the release of Study Mode at the start of the new academic year is part of a wider push by OpenAI to get AI more embedded into classrooms.
When asked why the company decided to develop Study Mode, OpenAI’s head of education Leah Belsky told The Straits Times that students are already using ChatGPT every day to help them learn, with one in three college students in the US relying on it regularly.
“We do hear from students that many wanted more than quick answers. They wanted guidance, hints and a way to think through problems step by step. Study Mode is our response to that need,” she said, adding that the company’s experts spent time with educators, parents and academic institutions around the world to understand what behaviours help drive student engagement and improve longer-term learning outcomes.
Educators who have tried out the new tool gave it the thumbs up, with some saying it is heartening that OpenAI, the leading AI company, is looking at how it can encourage more responsible use of their tools in education.
Associate Professor Jason Tan from the National Institute of Education sees Study Mode as another tool to help students learn at their own pace, aligned to their learning style.
He said: “Educators recognise that it’s in adaptive learning that AI can play a big part in education and in Singapore we are already using that. You can see many examples of that in the SLS, the Student Learning Space, which is available to all students in the national school system.
“The AI-powered platform makes customised learning recommendations for each student, based on how the student responds to questions and activities as they learn a topic.”
But he and other educators have pointed out that the onus is still on students to switch to Study Mode, instead of using AI to do the homework for them. Will they?
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This is a valid concern. After all, students can switch to regular ChatGPT mode with just one click, and copy and paste to complete an assignment in a much shorter time.
This means the feature’s effectiveness largely depends on a student’s motivation to learn things by himself, instead of taking shortcuts.
This is where skilled teachers come in, said Prof Tan.
He has a point. Motivation to learn can only come about from teachers igniting their students’ curiosity and leading them to discover things on their own or crack a puzzle – in short, it’s about the joy of learning.
It also comes from being in a room with other people who see things differently, with some even holding views opposite to your own and insistent on getting others to hear them.
As learning experts say, some friction – the kind that challenges us to reflect, revise and wrestle with complex and opposing ideas – is what truly drives learning.
You won’t get that from AI bots, which are trained to be polite and please users.
Already too late?
Three students from local universities who gave “honest” reviews of Study Mode said it was a good tool for learning a topic, but noted that it takes time to follow the lesson, step by step.
The three, who declined to be named, said they were more likely to use Study Mode if they needed to master a topic for a pen and paper exam. But they admitted they are more likely to use the regular ChatGPT to complete essays, especially if they are short of time.
One of the three, a second-year student, said: “Honestly, because most of us already use ChatGPT to do an outline, and then maybe even the final refinement, it’s going to be hard to break that habit and switch to Study Mode, especially since the mode requires you to spend a lot more time.”
Her point was echoed in a Forum letter written by a 15-year-old who recounted how she asked ChatGPT to solve a maths problem, because she ran out of time. She felt relieved but also guilty as she was outsourcing her learning.
As the writer rightly pointed out, students need to self-reflect and ask themselves if they are indeed learning. Parents and educators can inquire, without judgment, on how students are using AI. Schools need to set boundaries and teach students to understand the capabilities and limitations of AI tools used for learning and require students to log their use of AI.
Meanwhile, OpenAI’s Ms Belsky said the company will continue to improve its products for learning as more is known about how students learn best with AI.
She said: “Similar to other product announcements, we approach product roll-outs by being iterative. This means putting our products and features out in the world, learning how people use them, getting feedback and building safeguards that evolve with the technology.”
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Asked if OpenAI would consider developing a platform for schools which would allow only Study Mode and refuse if a student prompted it to write an entire essay or answer a maths problem, she said: “Study Mode isn’t intended to stop students from using ChatGPT without it, but it does offer an experience closer to (having) a tutor for when that experience would be helpful.”
On whether Study Mode is likely to curb misuse of ChatGPT by students, she said: “AI is ultimately a tool. What matters most in education is how that tool is used.
“True learning takes struggle, it takes working with information, it takes really processing it. If students use AI as an answer mode, they’re not going to learn as effectively.
“Part of our journey here is really to help students and educators use AI in ways that will expand their critical thinking and creativity. AI needs to be used to give feedback and for personal tutoring, and to help you ask and answer questions in different ways. That’s how we’re going to advance learning.”
Study Mode appears to be an important step in AI-assisted education. However, its real success depends on how students use it and how they are guided and trained to use it.
There is no shortcut to learning.
Sandra Davie is senior education correspondent at The Straits Times.
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