Artificial intelligence is moving from a background tool to a central part of student learning worldwide. Across classrooms and living rooms, AI-powered tutors are offering personalised guidance that adapts to a learner’s pace and skills. These tools are not only answering questions but shaping how young people approach study and problem-solving. The shift is accelerating as education technology companies and major AI developers integrate features aimed at building long-term learning skills.
OpenAI’s Study Mode Brings Adaptive Learning to ChatGPT
OpenAI has introduced a new “Study Mode” inside ChatGPT, now available on Free, Plus, Pro, and Team plans across iOS, Android, web, and desktop. According to the company, the mode turns the chatbot into an adaptive learning environment. When activated, it begins by asking questions to gauge a student’s goals and skill level. Based on this assessment, it creates a personalized learning path, breaking complex ideas into manageable sections and introducing complexity only when the learner is ready.Robbie Torney, senior director of AI Programs at Common Sense Media, said Study Mode is designed to promote critical thinking rather than provide direct answers.
If chat memory is enabled, the feature draws from past conversations to give examples and tailored tips. Students can upload course materials such as PDFs or images, which the AI can use directly. It also checks comprehension through open-ended prompts and targeted feedback, supporting deeper understanding.In countries like India, where after-school help can be costly and uneven in quality, OpenAI’s creators suggest that AI tutors can provide consistent, round-the-clock guidance at a fraction of the cost.
Indian Edtech Firms Target School-Level Learning
Silicon Valley is not the only place that has the AI tutoring movement. At Chennai, Evo11ve.AI has initiated the service of students of classes 6 to 12 within the CBSE school curriculum, Evo11ve AI Coach. Swapna Reddy, founder and CEO, claims that the tool can help recognise knowledge gaps and propose personalised strategies to fill them. With continued usage, the company expects to increase student performance by 10 to 20 percentage points.Reddy referred to national surveys indicating only 43 percent of 14 to 18-year-olds know how to perform a jSoap201 1003 areaN192 current division problem, and 57.3 percent can read English sentences. She stated that these obstacles can be overcome by well designed AI tutoring which is adaptive to every student.
The focus of Evo11ve AI Coach is personalisation and the assumption that children can learn anything as long as they are taught using effective methods.Khan Academy has integrated its personal tutor, Khanmigo, which uses AI, with its collection of learning materials. The topics of the platform are such as mathematics, humanities, coding, and social studies. Khanmigo provides tutoring in real-time and is associated with individual exercises, videos and articles, which assists learners in answering rather than gives them the answers. Its interior focuses on pedagogy and the risk-free safety of the students.
Data Shows Rising Use of AI in Education
In a survey of OpenAI users, nearly 40 percent of American users aged 18-24 use ChatGPT and over 25 percent of messages sent by these users are in regards to school, tutoring, or educational inquiries. A poll among college-going users showed that three in every four respondents desire a version of AI in their studies.One of the reasons why AI tutoring is popular is flexibility. In contrast to real-world classrooms, AI tutors can work any time, provide endless repetitions, and adapt to the abilities of a learning student.
A study conducted by Gregory Kestin and Kelly Miller in the Harvard Gazette discovered that AI tutoring enables students to progress further through the curriculum and increases the self-reported feelings of motivation and engagement. Students also expressed positive feedback in their increased confidence to deal with more complex subjects when their steps to doing problem solving were initiated instead of being given the solutions directly.
Experts Warn Against Over-Reliance on AI
Despite the benefits, researchers stress caution in the use of AI tutors. Kestin said that while AI can enhance learning, it could undermine it if misused. He emphasised that AI tutors should help students develop critical thinking skills and complement, rather than replace, in-person instruction.A Massachusetts Institute of Technology study examined the cognitive impact of using AI for essay writing.
Participants were split into three groups: those using ChatGPT, those using a search engine, and those relying solely on their own reasoning. The brain-only group showed the strongest and most widespread neural connectivity, the search engine group displayed moderate engagement, and the ChatGPT-assisted group showed the weakest coupling.The researchers concluded that convenience from AI tools may come at the cost of cognitive effort, underscoring the importance of balanced use.
Behavioural Studies Link AI Use to Personality Traits
In addition to academic achievement, there are also studies that assessed behavioural tendencies associated with the use of AI tools in students. Article published in BMC Psychology discovered the correlations between the use of AI and some personality traits. A group of researchers in South Korea found that narcissism, psychopathy and Machiavellianism scores were positively correlated with the tendency to use AI tools to address assignments. The provision of tools such as Study Mode and Khanmigo is aimed to encourage students to think through the issues rather than circumventing the learning process.
One challenge facing schools and universities is how to establish the limits that restrict overdependency that will still allow the potential of AI to be used to facilitate learning.With the development and increasing use of AI tutoring tools, early indicators point to the likelihood of its usage becoming part of the fabric of education- as long as it can be used to supplement human efforts and maintain the active role of the student.
