Last week, Chegg, the leading US educational software maker, announced the launch of CheggMate, a study aid tailored to students. The software works by combining Chegg’s corpus of quiz answers and an AI model, known as GPT-4. The model is able to adapt to students by processing data from their classes, providing personalized practice tests and giving students guidance with their studies, something that generic programs such as ChatGPT cannot do. A free version of the software is due for release next month.
This news has brought focus to the impact of AI on the educational world. ChatGPT, created by startup OpenAI, was released last year and became a topic of controversy with students using the chatbot to bypass their homework and educators having to monitor the authenticity of student’s submissions. As a result, the Los Angeles Unified School District and Science Po in France have blocked access to ChatGPT, while other teachers have suggested it as an aid to help critique student work.
This new release seeks to widen the range of tasks students can do with AI and a likely decrease in the cost of content, as well as an increase in profitability for Chegg. Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, expressed his excitement in the collaboration with Chegg and his hopes to “improve the way people learn around the world.”
The importance of the vital data owned by Chegg has been highlighted. The organization holds a pool of 150,000 experts in science, math and studying to provide students with reliable answers, as well as ensures the accuracy of the AI model’s answers.
The news of partnering with Chegg, Inc. provides ChatGPT, the homework-drafting chatbot, with a broader audience. As AI becomes increasingly embedded in education, Chegg’s recent achievement should bring a positive impact to students.
