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AsiaOne
14 hours ago
- AsiaOne
ChatGPT, Gemini or The Wise Otter - which is the best AI tutor for Singapore students?, Digital News
SINGAPORE - Students are increasingly relying on artificial intelligence (AI) tutors for their daily work. Besides mainstream tools such as Google's Gemini and OpenAI's ChatGPT, the latest contender in this space is The Wise Otter. Created and launched in April by Singaporean developer Jotham Goh, 33, The Wise Otter incorporates grading criteria used in Singapore schools. It can tackle primary school maths, as well as secondary school and junior college maths, English, physics, chemistry and biology questions with step-by-step explanations. The Straits Times pitted the three chatbots against one another to check which AI tutor is the best for Singapore students. For ChatGPT, ST included both GPT-4o and the latest GPT-5 models in this test. GPT-5, launched on Aug 8, is said to hallucinate less and deliver more accurate answers compared with earlier editions. The chatbots were asked to solve a random sample of questions found in past-year O-level papers and school examinations, including those that involve diagrams, across four subjects: Maths, chemistry, physics and English. Maths The three bots answered correctly a probability question about a cumulative frequency diagram showing the time that adults spent on exercise in one week. The bots also provided detailed explanations for their answers. Asked to find the value of k (the minimum hours of weekly exercise for adults to stay fit), given that only 60 per cent of the adults in the diagram meet this minimum recommendation, GPT-4o and The Wise Otter failed to provide the right answer. Only Gemini provided the correct value of k, which was 3. GPT-4o and The Wise Otter wavered when told that 3 was the correct answer, quickly analysed the question again and gave 3 as their answers. To test their confidence, both bots were told again that 3 was wrong. GPT-4o was more eager to please and wavered again, stating that k's value was 2.67. When the question was fed to GPT-5, it was able to provide the correct workings, but still misread the graph and gave the answer as 3.2. Although ChatGPT and The Wise Otter struggled with understanding the graph, all three bots were able to correctly answer other text-based questions. English The three bots were prompted to write an essay plan for the following question: "'I realised that I was much stronger than I had previously thought.' Write about a time when you felt like this." All three bots were able to produce a comprehensive structure for students to follow, and suggested key points to include in each paragraph. They all prompted the writer to think of moments in life when there was a seemingly insurmountable challenge and how the writer's perspective changed after the event, as well as to use vivid language as much as possible. The Wise Otter went on to remind the writer that strength could be physical, emotional, mental or a combination of these. It also gave possible classifications of the essay as "narrative", "reflective" or "personal recount". These are three of several essay types that O-level students in local schools are taught to identify, along with the appropriate approaches for the essay types. The Wise Otter also provided advice on how to get the highest band for content, a scoring system used in GCE O levels - specifically, the essay needs to recount explicitly how the writer felt weak before, what happened to make the writer feel stronger, and how the writer realised he or she had strength all along. GCE O-level examiners typically award marks for content and language, and score the papers between bands zero and five (five for the highest marks). Chemistry A diagrammatic question on paper chromatography required the bots to identify which metals - lead, copper, iron, nickel and tin - could be found in mixture A, which contained three metals. The correct answer was lead, iron and tin, as the chromatogram of mixture A showed spots at the same heights as these metals. The bots were able to reason that matching the heights of the spots was the way to find the answer, but they were all able to correctly identify only two metals each. Gemini, GPT-4o and GPT-5 mistakenly identified copper as a metal in mixture A. The Wise Otter erroneously said that nickel was found in mixture A. Physics When given a text-based multiple choice question that tested understanding of inertia, the bots gave an accurate definition of the concept, describing it as an object's resistance to changing its state of motion. The bots explained that inertia depends only on the mass of an object, and that other factors such as speed and velocity are irrelevant. They provided the correct answer that the car had the greatest inertia as it had the greatest mass. Fed another physics question asking for the total resistance that flowed through an electrical circuit based on a diagram, the bots provided the correct answer, despite having struggled with diagrammatic maths and chemistry questions. All the bots were able to break down the calculations into two parts - first by calculating the resistance of the parallel resistors, and then by adding it to the resistance of the fixed resistor connected in series. They provided the correct formula for calculating the equivalent resistance of the parallel resistors. However, The Wise Otter's Telegram interface does not allow it to show fractions. Fractions are denoted by the symbol "/" instead. [[nid:721116]] This article was first published in The Straits Times . Permission required for reproduction.
Business Times
14 hours ago
- Business Times
Ex-OpenAI, DeepMind staffers set for US$1 billion value in Andreessen-led round
[NEW YORK] Venture firm Andreessen Horowitz has agreed to lead a US$200 million investment in Periodic Labs, a new startup building artificial intelligence (AI) for material science, according to people familiar with the matter. The agreement values Periodic Labs at US$1 billion before the investment, an impressive price for a months-old company, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. OpenAI had previously agreed to lead the investment, but Periodic Labs decided that Andreessen Horowitz could offer more resources, one of the people said. OpenAI is still expected to participate in the financing and potentially team up with the company, the person said. The round hasn't closed, and terms of the deal could change. Andreessen Horowitz didn't respond to a request for comment. Spokespeople for Periodic Labs and OpenAI declined to comment. Periodic Labs was founded by Liam Fedus, OpenAI's former vice-president of research and a key member of the team that launched ChatGPT, and Ekin Dogus Cubuk, a former research scientist at Google's DeepMind AI division. The idea is to use AI to study materials and potentially discover new ones. The Information earlier reported some details of Periodic Labs' fundraising plans. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Little has been shared about the new venture. In a March tweet announcing his departure from OpenAI, Fedus said he was excited about AI for science. He called it 'one of the most strategically important areas' for OpenAI and said the company planned to 'invest in and partner' with Periodic Labs. Fedus is part of a growing group of former OpenAI staffers launching their own ventures, a cadre that's drawn comparisons to the 'PayPal mafia', a group of prolific entrepreneurs including Elon Musk and Peter Thiel. Anthropic, the OpenAI rival, was started by ex-OpenAI executives Dario and Daniela Amodei. Thinking Machines Lab, recently valued at US$10 billion, was founded by former OpenAI executive Mira Murati. Investors are jostling for stakes in startups launched by alumni of OpenAI and other AI pioneers and are willing to pay lofty prices for what they see as rare talent. At the same time, larger companies are trying to retain employees with massive compensation packages worth hundreds of millions. Several other OpenAI employees – including Rhythm Garg, Linden Li and Yash Patil – recently exited the company to launch a startup called Applied Compute. The startup quickly raised funding from Benchmark, Bloomberg reported. Benchmark's investment valued Applied Compute at US$100 million, Upstarts Media reported. That's still remarkably high for such an early-stage deal, though it pales in comparison with the valuation that Periodic Labs commanded – thanks to Fedus' central role in creating ChatGPT. BLOOMBERG
Straits Times
18 hours ago
- Straits Times
Former data analyst creates AI tutor that assesses students based on Singapore schools' criteria
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Mr Jotham Goh quit his data analyst job in 2024 to tinker with AI and, in April, launched an AI tutor to help students. SINGAPORE – Growing up, Mr Jotham Goh had always dreamt of having an on-demand artificial intelligence (AI) tutor so he would have more time to rest after school. 'I had three to four tuition classes weekly after school. I dreaded them as I still had to go even if I was tired,' said Mr Goh. When the 33-year-old quit his data analyst job in 2024 to tinker with AI, his natural inclination was to revisit his childhood ideas. In April, he launched The Wise Otter – an AI tutor to help primary, secondary and junior college students with mathematics, English, chemistry, physics and biology. The tool comes amid increasing use of AI in the education sector. It competes with mainstream tools such as OpenAI's ChatGPT (of which an update was rolled out on Aug 8), Google's Gemini and Anthropic's Claude. Mr Goh, who graduated with a finance degree from the Singapore Management University in 2016, said: ' The Wise Otter is more tailored to the needs of Singapore students. The Wise Otter is trained on hundreds of pages of past-year examination papers, assessment books and model answers from local teachers. 'For a subject like English, I codified the syllabus and the grading criteria used in the local school system, which is why the bot is more tailored to the needs of Singapore students. The bot is able to spot mistakes made by students like how a teacher would, such as when they don't follow a certain structure.' Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Profile of Kpod user has shifted from hardcore drug users to young people: Experts Singapore 4 men arrested after police search operation in forested area near Rail Corridor World Thousands protest in Tel Aviv against Israeli govt move to expand Gaza war Opinion Recognising our imperfections is part of what makes Singapore whole Opinion I used to be impatient. Then I became a granddad Business The risks of using 'decoupling' to own two properties Asia Manila struggles to keep a lasting hawker culture, casts eyes on how Asian nations lifted street food The bot is accessible via messaging platform Telegram. Students can either type out their questions or upload a photo of their homework. The bot is equipped to break down complex maths problems and solve them, unpack English comprehension passages and explain science theories and concepts. Mr Goh's Telegram bot answers up to eight AI queries daily. A weekly fee starting from $4.20 for 1,000 queries per month will kick in after that. The Wise Otter's website allows JC students to brush up on their knowledge on current affairs and essay-writing techniques for General Paper. Students get five AI requests for free daily, or they can pay a monthly fee starting from $16 for 1,000 requests . After the bot was created and launched in April, he promoted it on online forum Reddit, which has a subgroup frequented by Singaporean students seeking advice on examinations. Since then, The Wise Otter has garnered around 600 weekly active users – most of whom ask maths questions, he said, declining to reveal how many of them are paying ones. Mr Goh admitted that about 10 per cen t of the answers provided by The Wise Otter are wrong, and the bot still needs tweaking. In its current form, he added, The Wise Otter does not replace human tutors, who will still be needed for identifying and addressing recurring weaknesses in each student's workings and understanding of a topic. Students can use The Wise Otter bot to brush up on their skills in several subjects, such as practising conversational skills for an oral examination. PHOTO: SCREENSHOT FROM THE WISE OTTER Kaitlyn Ang, 16 , has been using the bot almost daily for three months to revise English and mathematics to prepare for her O-level examinations as a private candidate. She cannot afford a human tutor, but finds the bot to be as good as one. She practises English oral topics with the bot, which guides her on what needs elaboration. She said she also gained a better understanding of trigonometry, which she had struggled to grasp in the past. 'It can provide helpful exam tips, explanations for questions I struggle with, and give feedback,' she said. She acknowledged that the bot is not perfect, but said that the answers are better aligned with what her school teachers taught than answers from ChatGPT and Claude. The use of AI in education dominated headlines in recent months due to its potential for academic dishonesty. To promote responsible academic use of the chatbot, OpenAI on July 30 rolled out a Study Mode for ChatGPT that uses a Socratic tutoring style to respond to students' questions. The style emphasises guided discovery through questioning rather than giving direct answers. Study Mode, which can be turned on or off, will eventually provide direct solutions if asked repeatedly for the answers. Study Mode's approach is aligned with The Wise Otter's. For instance, The Wise Otter does not generate full General Paper essays for students. Instead, the bot provides feedback on how to improve written essays in ways that are similar to how human teachers work. An example of how The Wise Otter gives feedback to improve a student's General Paper essay. PHOTO: SCREENSHOT FROM THE WISE OTTER Mr Goh said : 'For example, if you write an introduction and request a review, the AI will be able to give advice such as how to make a lengthy hook more concise. Students can learn straightaway with timely feedback, instead of waiting a whole week for the teacher to mark an essay.' He has been able to make a small profit so far due to low business costs, but said it is not yet enough to cover his daily living expenses. He does not see himself returning to a corporate job in the near term and is committed to improving The Wise Otter, noting that he has enough savings to last him for the next five to 10 years. 'Even if this fails, I would have the AI skills that will probably be useful in the future.'
