ChatEDU – The AI & Education Podcast Choose Your Adventure - AI Tutor or Cheat? | Ep. 70
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In this episode of ChatEDU (Choose Your Adventure - AI Tutor or Cheat?), Matt and Liz open with updates on robot massages, laundry-folding bots, and a favorite new AI memory prompt from Westport, Connecticut, followed by a global rundown, a breakthrough in 3D world modeling, and a deeper look at ChatGPT’s new Study Mode and what it reveals about student learning.
Story #1: The Rundown Goes Global and Local
From robot assistants to policy shifts, this week’s rundown spans AI headlines with big implications: NotebookLM can now build narrated slide decks, the National Science Foundation is investing $100 million in AI research, and the Presidential AI Challenge invites students and teachers to tackle real-world problems. Switzerland launches a green multilingual LLM, China and India expand AI education, and Oregon partners with NVIDIA to grow AI learning. Sam Altman warns of AI dependency, and users discover their ChatGPT chats may not be legally private, news that highlights both momentum and risk.
Story #2: A 3D World from Words
Tencent’s Hunyuan World 1.0 lets users create immersive 3D environments from a simple text prompt. Open-sourced on GitHub, it combines panoramic image generation with interactive object control. Still technical for now, it hints at uses in education, simulation, and storytelling. Today it requires Unity and Python; eventually, students could build explorable science labs or historical settings with a sentence.
Story #3 (Beneath the Surface): Study Mode and the Tutor Button
OpenAI’s new Study Mode turns ChatGPT into a Socratic tutor—on for scaffolded questions, off for full essays. Matt and Liz explore what this reveals about learning and agency, and examine the system prompt behind it. MIT warns it still draws from flawed sources, but it’s more engaging than static study guides. Custom GPTs and student-built tutors may be next. As AI reshapes education, Study Mode offers a sharper view of what’s possible, and what’s at stake.
Links and References (as mentioned in the show)
Presidential AI Challenge
https://www.ai.gov/initiatives/presidential-challenge
Swiss Multilingual LLM from WINS
https://www.winssolutions.org/switzerland-open-source-llm-new-standard/
MIT Technology Review on China’s AI Push
https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/07/28/1120747/chinese-universities-ai-use/
Hunyuan World 1.0 GitHub
https://github.com/Tencent-Hunyuan/HunyuanWorld-1.0
Study Mode Overview (Neuron)
https://www.theneuron.ai/newsletter/chatgpt-became-your-tutor
MIT Review on Study Mode
https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/07/29/1120801/openai-is-launching-a-version-of-chatgpt-for-college-students/#:~:text=OpenAI%20is%20launching%20Study%20Mode,academic%20year%20starts%20in%20September.
Business Insider on Study Mode and Buying a Car
https://www.businessinsider.com/chatgpt-study-mode-ai-big-life-decision-making-buy-car-2025-7
Forbes on System Prompts
https://www.forbes.com/sites/lanceeliot/2025/08/03/deciphering-the-custom-instructions-underlying-openais-new-chatgpt-study-mode-reveals-vital-insights-including-for-prompt-engineering/
AI Agents Build COVID Vaccine (Stanford)
https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2025/07/virtual-scientist.html
AI Immunotherapy Design
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adv0422
YouTube AI Age Detection
https://blog.youtube/news-and-events/extending-our-built-in-protections-to-more-teens-on-youtube/
Announcements
Fall Micro-Credential Waitlist is Open
Get on the list at skills21.org/ai/micro
New Student AI Literacy Curriculum
Email Matt and Liz to learn more: chatedu@edadvance.org