How ChatGPT is Disrupting the Online Education Industry and Forcing Traditional Platforms to Adapt?

How ChatGPT is Disrupting the Online Education Industry and Forcing Traditional Platforms to Adapt?

Photo: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg News

Artificial intelligence has been making waves in education, from the top to the bottom, affecting established platforms and reimagining the way students learn. One of the strong disruptors has emerged in the form of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, an extremely powerful AI tool. Traditional education companies are beginning to feel the heat. This is best described by online education provider Chegg. The company has struggled in recent times, struggling against burgeoning competition from AI tools such as ChatGPT.

Why is Chegg Struggling Amid ChatGPT’s Rise?

Chegg, known for textbook rentals, study resources, and homework help, reported recently a steep decline in subscriber growth, which it essentially blamed on the ChatGPT application, as its growing popularity among students became well known. Considering that ChatGPT can easily take over the work of quick responses, explanations, and even tutoring, students are looking its way rather than conventional help platforms like Chegg. In the wake of this announcement by Chegg, the value of its stock plummeted, further testifying to ChatGPT’s disruptive influence in the sector.

Is AI in Education a Benefit or a Challenge?

Indeed, the effect of ChatGPT reaches well beyond Chegg to the many companies that function within the ecosystem of online education. For students, the technology cuts both ways: a handy, personalized tool that puts information and tutoring at their fingertips. But for the traditional providers of educational services, it’s a disruption. AI-powered tools that return instant responses to academic queries can make some traditional resources obsolete-and that presses established companies to adapt or risk losing relevance.

How Are Schools and Learning Platforms Responding to AI?

To this, some educational institutions and online learning platforms have started adapting and including AI technologies rather than competing with them. This includes Arizona State University, which has implemented the use of ChatGPT in various teaching activities. The institution simultaneously teaches how the use of this AI can be effectively utilized while at the same time creating rules and policies against its misapplication and plagiarism.

Online studying tool Quizlet has also joined the AI shift, introducing “Q-Chat,” a virtual tutor powered by ChatGPT’s API, to raise student learning. Quizlet positions the use of AI as supportive, letting students engage more interactively with study material and possibly enabling a more dynamic and engaging learning process.

What Does the Future Hold for Education in an AI-Driven World?

The uprising of AI in education is simultaneously challenging and bringing innovations. With greater reliance on tools such as ChatGPT, educational companies are being forced into new ways of thinking by students on how to stay competitive. AI in education presents an opportunity to enhance learning and a challenge to the traditional models; hence, a balance will need to be sought out by the institutions in this changing landscape. This turns AI into an unparalleled learning resource for students and a key moment in which traditional platforms can grow and adapt.