US educational software firm Chegg announced on Monday the launch of CheggMate powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4, its most advanced large language model. This move comes at a time when questions over the effects of tools such as ChatGPT on education are being raised.
Chegg Chief Executive Dan Rosensweig said the CheggMate will use OpenAI’s technology and Chegg’s own holds of unique data to form the perfect study companion for the students. He further explained that CheggMate allow students to have an instantaneous one-on-one AI conversation tailored to their individual learning style.
Despite these developments, Chegg’s stock in the pre-market trading dropped around 28 percent from the beginning of the year. This move has come in response to the perceived threat of artificial intelligence to the company’s business as well as the freely available ChatGPT.
In an earnings call in February, Rosensweig tried to assuage investors’ worries and painted a promising picture of the company’s relationship with advanced technology. He said the firm had been utilizing OpenAI’s GPT-2 technology within the writing products and that AI and machine learning models were not new to the company.
On Monday, Rosensweig further assured that CheggMate only supplies data that has been verified for accuracy. This is an effort to avoid allowing wrong information to perpetuate on the platform, as is the current problem with chatbots.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman lauded CheggMate, expressing enthusiasm for its potential to offer customised learning experiences and to improve education for people globally. The limited early access for students through the tool begins in the month of May.
Chegg is a US-based educational technology giant providing digital and physical studying materials for students all over the world. It was founded in 2005 and has since seen substantial growth, with a record number of 10.9 million active users at the end of 2020. The firm is committed to making a positive impact on student success and has previously launched products such as Chegg Study, Chegg Tutors, Chegg Writing and Chegg Math, helping learners gain an advantage in the classroom.
Dan Rosensweig is the current chief executive of Chegg, who has been at the helm of the company since 2018. He has more than 30 years of experience in the industry, having served in various executive roles at the Walt Disney Company and Yahoo. He also serves on the Board of Directors of several publicly-traded organisations such as Cloudera and Zynga. With CheggMate, Rosensweig aims to empower students to gain access to the best education tools without barriers such as price or geography.
