The Education edition
The AI news of that week, in plain language.
This week: new AI homework tools from Google and OpenAI, and why an AI detector is still not proof.
OpenAI and Google are turning AI into a home tutor. Handy, but it raises a classroom question
ChatGPT and Gemini are getting learning features that guide pupils towards the answer instead of handing it to them.
OpenAI is expanding its Study Mode: a feature that does not give pupils the answer right away, but lets them think step by step. Parents can now switch that mode on and make it mandatory. ChatGPT also gained 'Interactive Learning', with over 70 topics in maths and physics. Google put 'Study Notebooks' up against it: personalised lessons and quizzes that adapt to the pupil. For you this means your pupils already use these tools at home, whether or not they are allowed to in class.
Background for subscribersThese tools sit in your pupils' free accounts, so banning them only half works. It is smarter to adjust how you design your tests. Have part of it written in class, or ask follow-up questions out loud about a choice in the text. That way you see for yourself whether the material has sunk in, without needing a detector that is often wrong. And if you try Study Mode yourself: it guides pupils towards reasoning on their own, exactly what you want in class too.
NotebookLM is now called Gemini Notebook and can do more
Google renamed its research tool NotebookLM to Gemini Notebook. The core stays the same: you upload sources and get answers with source references included. What is new is that each notebook can now also run code on your files. Existing notebooks and links keep working as before.
Background for subscribersThis is a taster.
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