Latest news with #CliffNotes
WIRED
29-07-2025
- WIRED
ChatGPT's Study Mode Is Here. It Won't Fix Education's AI Problems
OpenAI's new study mode for ChatGPT throws questions back at students, but the learning feature doesn't address generative AI's underlying disruption of education. Photo-Illustration:The school year starts soon for many students, and ChatGPT has announced a new 'study mode' that aims to prevent—or at least, encourage against—students taking homework shortcuts. The mode is designed around the Socratic method, so when activated, OpenAI's generative AI chatbot rejects direct requests for answers, instead guiding the user with open-ended questions. The new study mode is available to most logged-in users of ChatGPT, including those on the free version. OpenAI has significantly disrupted the education system over the past few years, with students becoming some of the earliest adopters of ChatGPT. Even so, OpenAI claims the bot is currently an overall boon to learners— if asked to roleplay as a synthetic tutor. 'When ChatGPT is prompted to teach or tutor, it can significantly improve academic performance,' says Leah Belsky, a vice president of education at OpenAI, 'but when it's just used as an answer machine, it can hinder learning.' The problem is, no matter how engaging ChatGPT's study mode becomes as OpenAI iterates on this feature, it exists just a toggle click away from ChatGPT, with direct answers (and potential fabrications) about whatever class you're working on. That could be quite hard to resist for younger users still developing their frontal lobe. It's true that students on the hunt for easy ways to avoid engaging with the substance of a course have always had resources available to them, like the CliffNotes series of literature summaries. Still, the immediacy and personalized nature of chatbots feels like an escalation. Multiple AI-focused smartphone apps that can solve homework problems with just a snapshot, like ByteDance's Gauth, rocket in popularity whenever the school year gets back into session. Many educators have recently raised concerns about the continued, and often secretive, use of AI by students. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman doesn't buy it. 'I remember when I was in school—junior high—Google first came out and all the teachers freaked out,' Altman said on a recent podcast. Similar to the internet and the calculator, Altman's sees AI as a tool capable of helping you 'think better.' ChatGPT's study mode is an attempt to foster more thorough engagement on a topic with users by throwing questions back at them and asking for more context about their learning goals. 'Instead of giving a very long, drawn out answer up front, it's first asking you, 'Hey, what are you trying to optimize for? What's your current level?'' says Abhi Muchha, who works on the product team at OpenAI. While the launch of OpenAI's study mode is more focused on universities, with college students giving their best beta tester testimonials during the press briefing, the company has its attention on an even broader swath of learners—which includes younger students. OpenAI is currently partnering with learning experts from Stanford 'to study and share how AI tools, including study mode, influence learning outcomes in areas like K-12 education,' reads the company's announcement blog. This release comes not too long after the Trump administration's executive order focused on getting more AI usage into classrooms in the United States. Even if the initial research that OpenAI participates in about education and AI supports the company's claims that students learn better with a bot by their side, when it's used as a tutor rather than an answer generator, I'm still concerned. What are the long-term impacts of turning to an AI tool for guidance with increasing regularity? It's still unclear if young people, who may grow up constantly asking ChatGPT for help, develop an over-reliance on the software that impedes critical thinking. So, while ChatGPT's study mode is designed to guide students through learning material at their level of understanding, the onus remains on users to engage with the software in a specific way, ensuring that they truly understand the material. In the AI age, the hardest challenge of all for students might just be resisting the urge to swap out of study mode, snap a photo of the homework question, and have ChatGPT tell you exactly what you want to hear: the answer.
USA Today
22-07-2025
- Business
- USA Today
The Athletic ranks college football programs by valuation. Where is Ohio State?
It's not there yet, but college football is getting closer and closer to the model of professional franchises. And while programs will likely never be privately owned and sold on the open marketplace, the emphasis on name, image and likeness, the transfer portal, direct revenue payments to players, and the ballooning costs and revenue mean you could theoretically place a price tag on each college football program. That's exactly what Matt Baker of The Athletic attempted to do when looking at every FBS program and what they would be worth in the open market of fair trade and value. At this point, we all know that Ohio State is one of the biggest brands out there when it comes to college football, and Baker's results reflect that. But before we get there, it's important to note the methodology used in valuating college football programs to see how Baker arrived at his list. We'll spare you the full details, but the Cliff Notes version is based on transactions in real-life of professional teams, all while factoring in "everything from prestige and championships to facility renovations, population trends and realignment scenarios." In other words, it's an opinion piece based on a squishy set of numbers, but you get the idea. There's simply no way to tell what a college football program would sell for because there's no precedent and because there likely never will be. However, you can bet that the usual suspects would likely command high dollar vs. the others out there. So, after crunching all of the numbers and using the other factors, Baker has Ohio State valued at $1.9 billion, which is good enough for No. 3 on the highest artificially valued college football programs. You might be asking then, what two programs are ahead of rabidness and reach of the Buckeyes, and that would be Texas at No. 1 ($2.38 billion), followed by Georgia at No. 2 ($1.92 billion), just ahead of OSU. Rounding out the top ten behind those three are No. 4 Notre Dame ($1.85 billion), No. 5 Michigan ($1.83 billion), No. 6 Alabama ($1.74 billion), No. 7 Oklahoma ($1.49 billions), No. 8 USC ($1.4 billion), No. 9 Tennessee ($1.37 billion), and No. 10 LSU ($1.23 billion) I get the Texas argument. The Longhorns have a huge following in a football-rich state, but I don't for one moment believe Georgia would be sold for more money than the massive brand that is Ohio State. No way, no how. I think Texas and Ohio State are the two biggest names out there that could pull in the most merchandising, fan support, and money opportunities available -- if this were a real thing. I'd even argue that OSU would be bigger than Texas, but that's an argument that can have merits either way. These valuation rankings go well beyond a top ten. If you are interested in looking at the rest of them and forming your own opinions, we welcome you to head on over to The Athletic and check it all out. Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes and opinion. Follow Phil Harrison on X.
USA Today
20-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
WATCH: Highlights of Carmen's Crew's opening matchup win of The Basketball Tournament
There aren't nearly as many former Ohio State basketball players taking part on the so-called OSU alumni team known as "Carmen's Crew," in TBT action this year, but there are still a few. The team took home the title last year and is looking to defend that championship this year, and so far, so good. "Carmen's Crew" won vs. GoTeam Green Machine on Sunday by a score of 78-67, and the team did it in a little different fashion, with different stars paving the way in Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Despite the score, it was a pretty close game, aside from a third quarter that made all the difference for Carmen's Crew. If you missed any of the action, thanks to the amazing efforts of the internet and the social media app known as "X" we've got the highlights for you to take in. Here are the Cliff Notes highlights of Carmen's Crew's first step towards a TBT title defense. Carmen's Crew will next be in action on Monday at 6 p.m. ET against the winner of Locked In Elite and Fort Wayne Champs. Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes and opinion. Follow Phil Harrison on X.
USA Today
23-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
College Football Playoff announces change to future seeding process
College Football Playoff announces change to future seeding process And everyone rejoiced. It's not often that the College Football Playoff makes a decision that is celebrated by the masses, but this one has to be up there. OK, we at Buckeyes Wire were also big fans of the expanded playoff, but you get the idea. As with any new model, you have to be able to reflect and be willing to make changes that make sense, and the seeding process that seemed like a good idea at the time simply didn't work. As a refresher, the first year of the new 12-team College Football Playoff (that Ohio State will own for eternity by the way), rewarded conference champions. The Cliff Notes version is that the top four conference champions received a bye, and then the seeding would go from there based on the CFP rankings. Last year, what that left us with is an Arizona State team that won the Big Twelve despite being ranked No. 12. It also meant that Boise State was awarded a No. 3 seed as the Mountain West champion despite clocking in at No. 9 in the last CFP rankings. That cascaded everything down. That meant No. 1 Oregon had to face a fantastic Ohio State team at No. 6 in its first-round matchup, while Penn State got a pretty easy path to the semifinals by tussling with SMU and then Boise State. Notre Dame wasn't even eligible to be a top-four seed and receive a bye because it couldn't be a conference champion. Turns out it is nearly impossible to be a conference champion without being in ... wait for it ... a conference. Seeing and listening to what occurred last season, the CFP Committee announced a change to the seeding process that's less complex and simple. From now on, the seeding will just be what the teams are ranked in the CFP final rankings. So, that means, last year, Ohio State would have been a No. 6 seed instead of a No. 8 and matched up in Columbus against Arizona State. If it won (and reminder, it would have), the Buckeyes would then have faced No. 3 seed (instead of No. 5) Texas in the quarterfinal. Who knows if Jack Sawyer would have written his name in Buckeye lore, but still ... Here's what the seeds would have been under the new model if in place last season. The Power Four conferences and top top-ranked non-Power Four still get an automatic qualification. It's hard to come up with a downside to this change, and we're here to give credit to the CFP Committee for making this change so quickly. No matter how you slice it, there will still be some outstanding matchups going forward with this model. Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes and opinion. Follow Phil Harrison on X.
