Some ChatGPT subscribers are reporting a new feature appearing in their drop-down list of available tools called “Study Together.”
The mode is apparently the chatbot’s way of becoming a better educational tool. Rather than providing answers to prompts, some say it asks more questions and requires the human to answer, like OpenAI’s answer to Google’s LearnLM. Some also wonder whether it will have a mode where more than one human can join the chat in a study group mode. OpenAI did not respond to our request for comment but, for what it’s worth, ChatGPT told us, “OpenAI hasn’t officially announced when or if Study Together will be available to all users — or if it will require ChatGPT Plus.”
The feature is interesting because ChatGPT has quickly become a mainstay in education in both helpful and not-so-helpful ways. Teachers are using it for things like lesson plans; students can use it like a tutor — or they can use it to write their papers for them. Some have even suggested that ChatGPT could be “killing” higher education. This could be a way for ChatGPT to encourage the good uses while discouraging “cheating.”