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On 2026-05-12 Ethan Mollick says OpenAI contacted him to confirm Study Mode is…

Brief

Ethan Mollick (2026-05-12) reports OpenAI told him Study Mode remains live and reachable via /study and /learn shortcuts, despite its absence from most ChatGPT menus. He argues the silent removal is “a big mistake,” citing evidence that assistant-mode AIs can hurt learning by giving answers, and says Study Mode offered a simple mitigant for parents and teachers.

Why it matters

On 2026-05-12 Ethan Mollick says OpenAI contacted him to confirm Study Mode is still live and accessible via the /study and /learn shortcuts, even though the official Study Mode page doesn't mention it and most accounts no longer show a menu option to select it.

Key details

  • Mollick claims the silent UI removal is “a big mistake,” arguing evidence shows assistant-mode AI can harm learning by handing out answers; he notes Claude and Gemini still offer study modes and says Study Mode was a simple mitigation parents and teachers could recommend.
Source evidence

OpenAI contacted me to say “Study Mode is still live and accessible via /study and /learn shortcuts” so that’s good, although the official study mode page doesn’t mention that.

(I don’t think slash commands are a natural thing for the vast majority of people).

Ethan Mollick (@emollick)

The silent removal of Study Mode from ChatGPT is a big mistake (both Claude and Gemini still have theirs)

We have enough evidence that using AI in assistant mode to study can hurt learning because it just gives you answers, making students think they learned when they have not. You can prompt the model to be a very good tutor, but most people don't know to do that. Study mode was an easy option that parents and teachers could suggest to mitigate negative effects, even if it wasn't perfect.

OpenAI still has a page about it, and the link activates study mode but otherwise there seems to be no way to select it from a menu for most accounts. openai.com/index/chatgpt-stu…

(Deleted this by accident, sorry, so reposted!)

— https://nitter.net/emollick/status/2054289201055871160#m