ChatGPT Study Mode: Tutor or Trojan Horse?

A Look at OpenAI's Promise to Revolutionize Education

Aug 01, 2025

ChatGPT launched Study Mode on Tuesday, presenting it as more than just a tool for quick answers. The new feature is designed to function as a personal tutor, helping users gain deeper understanding and strengthen their critical thinking.

But a closer look suggests that the reality may not fully live up to the promise.

Key points

Availability: Study Mode is available to all logged-in users, both free and paid.
Principle: Instead of giving answers right away, Study Mode walks students through problems and concepts step by step.
The How: It is built on the “Socratic questioning“ method, where the AI asks probing questions, provides hints and encourages self-reflection to help the student arrive to the answer independently. It's like a coach who asks, "What do you think happens next?" or "Why do you believe that?" rather than just telling them what to do.
The Goal: To help students truly understand the material, not just memorize answers.
Benefits and Drawbacks: I explore these in detail below.

Examples

I tested Study Mode and put together a couple of simple examples to show how it works in practice.

Math Homework:

Regular ChatGPT: Your child types: "What is 3x + 5 = 14?" ChatGPT immediately says: "x = 3." (Doesn't help them learn how to solve it.)
Study Mode: Your child types: "What is on 3x + 5 = 14?"
- ChatGPT (in Study Mode) responds: "Let's work through it step by step together.
  You’ve got the equation:
  3x + 5 = 14
  First question:
  👉 What can we do to isolate the term with x on one side of the equation? What's the first number we should get rid of?"
- Your child might say: "Subtract 5 from both sides?"
- ChatGPT: "Exactly right! 👍
  So if we subtract 5 from both sides, what does the equation become? Can you write it out?"

This back-and-forth continues until your child solves the problem, with ChatGPT guiding them, giving hints, and explaining why each step is taken.

History Project:

Regular ChatGPT: Your child asks: "Summarize the causes of World War I." ChatGPT gives a long summary. (Your child might copy-paste without truly understanding or learning.)
Study Mode: Your child asks: "Summarize the causes of World War I."
- ChatGPT: "Great! To start, what do you already know about the world before World War I began? Any countries or big ideas that come to mind?"
- Your child might mention: "Something about alliances?"
- ChatGPT: "You're on the right track! Can you explain what an alliance is, and why countries might form them before a war?"
- It will then help your child explore different causes, ask them to explain them in their own words, and even give them a mini-quiz to check if they truly understood.

Benefits of Study Mode and the False Promise of the Infinite Tutor

There is something quietly seductive about the idea of a tutor who never sleeps. An oracle, always available, who neither judges nor tires; ready to guide your child through the riddles of algebra or the slow unraveling of historical alliances, long after the classroom has emptied and the textbooks have been closed. This is the promise of Study Mode.

It is a noble idea, on the face of it: a digital Socrates, asking rather than telling, nudging rather than pulling, challenging rather than instructing. The premise is almost classical in its elegance. Rather than declare, it inquires. Rather than solve, it provokes. And in doing so, it hopes to lead the learner, not toward the answer necessarily, but toward understanding.

In practice, it sometimes achieves this. One can imagine a child, pencil in hand, prompted by the AI: "What’s the first number we should get rid of?" Instead of the blunt force of "x = 3," there is an invitation to think. It is a small act of intellectual empowerment. In a world where so much is fed to us ready-made, being asked to chew one’s food is a gift.

The same might happen in a history lesson: rather than a pre-chewed summary of the Triple Entente, the student is asked what they already know about European alliances. The result, ideally, is reflection before assimilation. A flicker of ownership over one’s learning.

So, here are several benefits that I currently see:

Promotes Deeper Understanding: Instead of just getting answers handed to them, your child has to think and work through the problem. When your child has to explain things in their own words or figure out the next step, they remember it better. It's like learning to ride a bike by doing it, not just reading a book about it.
It Partially Adapts to Your Child Needs: If your child is really struggling, Study Mode can go super basic. If they're catching on fast, it can move quicker. It makes an effort to match their pace and level of understanding.
Free and Accessible: This is a major strength. Study Mode is available to all logged-in users (free or paid), making a powerful learning tool accessible to a broad audience.
Like Having a Fun Private Tutor, 24/7 Available: Imagine a tutor who is ready to help your child at 9 PM on a Sunday night when you might not know the answer. Study Mode is there 24/7. One of the biggest perks of Study Mode? It actually makes studying fun. There's something way more engaging about working through problems with a chatbot that cheers you on than grinding through a dry Linear Algebra textbook for three straight hours.

That said, there are also significant challenges and fundamental limitations.

A Critical Vulnerability: This is a glaring Achilles' heel. OpenAI's explicit stance that it won't offer tools to "lock students into Study Mode" is definitely problematic. It places the burden of ethical use entirely on the student. If your child just wants the answer, they will find a way to trick the AI or just switch out of Study Mode. In other words, Study Mode only works if the student is willing to engage sincerely and put in the effort. Without that, its potential quickly falls apart.
Accuracy and "Hallucinations": This is, frankly, my biggest concern with Study Mode. Imagine your child is learning something new, like the dates of a major historical event or a specific scientific fact. They trust that the information they're getting is true. But what if it is not?
Large Language Models (LLMs), like the one powering ChatGPT, often "hallucinate." This is a fancy way of saying they confidently make up information that sounds real but is completely wrong. It’s like listening to someone who tells a convincing story, except parts of that story are simply made up.
Think of ChatGPT Study Mode as a hyper-diligent human tutor who has read every textbook cover to cover, but also every half-baked forum post, Reddit thread, and obscure blog entry on the topic. It knows everything that’s been said, right or wrong. But here’s the catch: it doesn’t always know the difference.
For students still building knowledge in a subject, this is a serious problem. They often lack the experience to spot inaccuracies, and as any parent knows, once a child learns something the wrong way, it’s much harder to correct it later.
Can't Replace a Human Touch: While the 24/7 availability of Study Mode is undeniably convenient, equating it fully to a human private tutor is a stretch. A human tutor offers not just knowledge but empathy, motivational nudges, real-time assessment of non-verbal cues (frustration, confusion), and the ability to pivot pedagogical approaches dynamically in ways an AI cannot. The "warm, encouraging smile" or "high-five" aren't just pleasantries; they are integral to a supportive learning environment.
Generic vs. Truly Personalized Learning: Study Mode adapts, yes; but within parameters. It notices pace, yes; but not temperament. It can scaffold content, but not character. A human tutor might know, intuitively, that the problem is not fractions; it is confidence. Or that the confusion is not conceptual; it is emotional. Machines do not yet read such things. Perhaps they never will.
Sam Altman's Vision: Sam Altman's recent claims that AI will fundamentally reshape education, potentially rendering traditional college obsolete, and that his own child will “probably not” attend college (as he stated on Theo Von’s podcast “This Past Weekend”) reflect a techno-utopian outlook that overlooks the deeper complexities of human learning and development.
Learning has never been merely informational. It is social, ethical, emotional. It is forged in the heat of disagreement, confusion, failure. It requires discomfort. It grows not only through answers, but through argument. Universities may be flawed, yes. But they are spaces where this deeper formation happens. To replace them with machines is feels currently very premature or even a category error.

At this point, I want to acknowledge that this list of benefits and drawbacks is based on my current understanding and initial observations. It is important to note that the capabilities and limitations of AI tools like ChatGPT are constantly evolving. As OpenAI and other developers continue to refine these models and introduce new features, what we see today may only be a snapshot of their full potential or their persistent challenges. Further experimentation and real-world application will undoubtedly reveal more about how effectively Study Mode truly fosters learning and where its fundamental boundaries lie.

I would love to hear your thoughts. If you found this useful, please leave a comment!

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