OpenAI rolls out ChatGPT study mode: What students and educators need to know in 2025

On July 29, 2025, OpenAI announced "study mode" for ChatGPT, a new feature that tries to turn the famous chatbot from a simple answer machine into more of a study buddy. Instead of just giving you the answer, study mode guides you through problems step-by-step so you can actually understand the material.

This move directly addresses the ongoing debate about AI’s role in education, especially the concerns around cheating and a lack of critical thinking, which publications like The Guardian have covered. It’s a big change, and it makes you think about how we use AI to learn and solve problems not just in school, but at work, too.

What is ChatGPT study mode?

At its heart, ChatGPT study mode is an interactive feature that nudges you to think for yourself. When you flip it on (by picking "Study and learn" from the tools menu), ChatGPT stops handing out answers on a silver platter. Instead, it starts asking you questions, Socratic style, to check your understanding and help you get to the solution on your own. OpenAI’s goal is to “help you build a deeper understanding,” not just get your homework done faster.

According to OpenAI’s announcement, the feature works by combining a few things:

• Interactive prompts: The AI asks you guiding questions and offers hints instead of giving the answer outright. This pushes you to think through the problem yourself.
• Scaffolded responses: Information is served in small, manageable chunks. It starts with the basics and gets more complex as you go, which keeps things from feeling overwhelming.
• Personalized support: If you have memory enabled, study mode can look at your past chats to tailor examples and tweak the difficulty. It gets a sense of what you know and adjusts its approach.
• Knowledge checks: To make sure you’re actually retaining the information, study mode will throw quizzes and open-ended questions at you, providing feedback along the way.

This new mode is being released to all logged-in users on Free, Plus, Pro, and Team plans, with access for ChatGPT Edu users coming soon. It’s a clear effort to change the conversation around AI in education from a cheating tool to a helpful academic assistant.

Why ChatGPT study mode matters: The shift from answer engines to learning partners

This isn’t just a small tweak; it points to a bigger trend in AI. As tools like ChatGPT get smarter, their creators are realizing that just being an "answer engine" can do more harm than good. As publications like WIRED have noted, getting instant answers can get in the way of developing real problem-solving skills.

ChatGPT study mode is OpenAI’s attempt to fix this for students. It’s built to stop them from taking the easy route and instead push them to actually engage with and learn the material.

But this isn’t just an academic problem. The same challenge shows up in the professional world all the time. A customer with a technical problem or an employee with an IT question is in the same boat as a student with a tricky assignment. They don’t just want an answer; they want a fix. Just throwing a long help article at them or giving a generic response usually leads to more frustration and follow-up tickets.

For businesses, this idea of "guided learning" has to be more structured, reliable, and plugged into the tools they already use. You can’t just gently guide a customer’s thinking; you have to guide them to a successful outcome. This is where business-focused AI solutions, like eesel AI, take the concept and run with it. An AI built for business doesn’t just ask interesting questions. It gives clear, actionable steps, performs tasks, and knows when to hand things off to a human. The goal isn’t just learning; it’s resolution.

Who ChatGPT study mode affects: Beyond the classroom

While students and educators are the main audience for study mode, the ideas behind it are useful everywhere knowledge is shared and problems are solved, from an IT help desk to a customer support queue.

Feature	ChatGPT Study Mode	Business AI (e.g., eesel AI)
Primary Goal	Learning & Understanding	Resolution & Action
Method	Socratic questioning, hints	Guided steps, automated actions
Context	General knowledge	Specific company knowledge base
Integration	Standalone application	Integrated into tools (Slack, Zendesk)
Outcome	User understands a concept	Customer issue is solved

ChatGPT study mode for students and educators

For students, this feature could be huge. It’s like having a personal, 24/7 tutor who can help them with tough subjects at their own speed. Some early testers said it’s like having “office hours” that are always open. But as TechCrunch pointed out, its success really depends on the student’s self-discipline. The standard, answer-giving version of ChatGPT is still just a click away, and it’s tempting to switch back for a quick fix.

For educators, study mode is a step in the right direction. It gives students a more responsible way to use AI and can be a good tool for backing up what’s taught in class. It doesn’t completely solve the cheating issue, though. Teachers will still need to adapt their assignments for a world where answers are always available.

ChatGPT study mode for customer support and IT teams

This is where the comparison gets fun. A customer struggling with a product is a lot like a student stuck on a math problem. They need guidance that leads to a solution. A generic AI that just spits out information often fails because it doesn’t know the specific context and can’t take action. You can’t just hope a customer is "committed to learning" how to fix their own issue; you have to get it resolved for them, fast.

This is exactly where an approach like ChatGPT study mode comes up short for a business. A customer support AI can’t just be a philosophical guide. It needs to be a problem-solver.

An AI Agent from eesel AI is built to do just that. It works like a professional "study mode" for your support operations, but it’s designed for resolution, not just reflection. It blends guided conversation with real actions.

For example, when a customer asks about their order status:

1. The AI first looks up the standard procedure in your company’s knowledge base, whether it’s in Confluence, Google Docs, or somewhere else.
2. It then asks a clarifying question, like, "I can help with that. Could you please provide your order number?"
3. Once the customer gives the number, it uses a secure action to check the live order status right in your Shopify store.
4. It tells the customer the real-time status and then asks if there’s anything else it can do. If the issue is more complicated, it offers a clear path to talk to a human agent inside your help desk, like Zendesk or Freshdesk.

The difference is clear. One approach helps you understand; the other gets things done.

What’s next for ChatGPT study mode and conversational AI in learning and support?

OpenAI has said that study mode is just a "first step." They’re already thinking about future updates like better visuals for tricky subjects and goal-tracking features. But one of the biggest downsides right now is the lack of admin controls. A school or a business can’t force users to stay in study mode, which makes it hard to use in any official capacity.

This is where the future OpenAI pictures for education is already happening for business-focused AI. For companies, these "future" features aren’t just nice to have; they’re must-haves.

A platform like eesel AI already provides the kind of controlled, measurable, and integrated setup that businesses need. It comes with solid analytics and reporting, so you can see exactly how your AI is doing. With a multi-bot setup, you can create different AI assistants for various departments (IT, HR, Sales, Support), each trained on its own specific knowledge. In a way, they’re always in a professional "study mode."

And it all happens inside the tools your team already uses, like Slack or Microsoft Teams. There’s no need for a huge, painful migration. Plus, for any business, data security is a top priority. While ChatGPT is a public tool, a business AI has to guarantee that your company and customer data stays private. With eesel AI, your data is never used to train outside models, and options like EU data residency are available to meet tough compliance rules.

ChatGPT study mode conclusion: From academic experiments to business essentials

The launch of ChatGPT study mode is a genuinely important moment. It’s a smart shift away from just generating answers and toward a more responsible AI that can actually help people learn. It’s an interesting experiment that shows even OpenAI knows that a firehose of information isn’t always helpful.

But while this is a great step for individual learning, the ideas behind it guided, contextual, and action-based help are what businesses need to survive. In a professional environment, you can’t leave resolutions up to chance. You need an AI that not only understands the "why" but can also handle the "how."

That’s the gap that platforms like eesel AI were built to fill. It takes these great academic ideas and turns them into a secure, reliable, and integrated tool that’s ready for the real-world messes of customer and employee support.

Ready to see what a "study mode for your business" looks like? Find out how eesel AI can change your support workflows. Book a demo or start your free trial today.