Introduction to ChatGPT-5: A New Era for AI in Education
Reading time: approx 7 min
Welcome to the first lesson about ChatGPT-5! In early August 2025, OpenAI launched a version that represents a significant development in AI technology. This is not just a minor adjustment, it is an entirely new architecture that changes how we can use AI in the classroom.
The goal of this first lesson is to give you a solid overview of the most important updates and, above all, what they mean for you as an educator. We will look at why ChatGPT-5 is more reliable, more capable, and more flexible than any previous version.
What you will learn
- The three most transformative updates in ChatGPT-5.
- How the AI can now "think" and why this reduces errors.
- Practical differences you will notice immediately in the classroom.
- The new features "Study Mode" and "Personalities".
The Fundamentals: What is new under the hood?
OpenAI describes GPT-5 as a unified system that automatically chooses between a fast response and deeper 'thinking' when a task requires it. This replaces earlier models and means that the model itself chooses the right tool for the job.
This leads to three critical improvements:
- Dramatically reduced hallucinations: One of the biggest challenges with AI has been its tendency to invent facts. GPT-5 is 45-80% less likely to do this (according to OpenAI's own tests), making it a significantly more reliable tool for fact-based tasks.
- Improved reasoning ability: Thanks to the new "thinking", the model can now solve problems in multiple steps, break down the solution into clear steps, and explain its reasoning at an understandable level. It handles more complex instructions and can reason about a problem in a way that resembles a human expert.
- True multimodality: While previous versions could handle different types of media, GPT-5 now does it seamlessly in a single conversation. You can upload images, files, and interpret diagrams without the model losing track.
Practical Examples: The difference in the classroom
What does this mean for you in practice? Let us illustrate the difference with a hypothetical scenario, to show the potential improvement.
Scenario: Create a quiz about the Industrial Revolution for grade 8.
With an older model: You asked for a quiz and got ten questions. Some were good, but one question contained a year that was obviously wrong. You needed to double-check all facts carefully before you could use the material.
With ChatGPT-5 (the new model): You ask for the same thing. The model asks a follow-up question: "What difficulty level do you want, and should I include some questions that connect to local Swedish industries to increase relevance?". The answers you get are more precise, and the risk of factual errors is significantly lower. You can trust the material more from the start.
Implementation in the classroom: New tools to test immediately
ChatGPT-5 is combined with several new features that are designed to be directly usable in a learning context.
"Study Mode": This is perhaps the most exciting update for education. Instead of just giving away the answer, the AI in this mode can act as a personal tutor. It guides the student step by step through a problem, adapts to the student's knowledge level, and encourages independent thinking.
- Example: A student struggling with a difficult equation can get hints like "What do you think is the first step here?" instead of getting the entire solution directly.
"Personalities": You can now instruct the AI to respond with a specific personality, such as "Nerd" (enthusiastic and knowledgeable), "Listener" (warm and thoughtful), or "Cynic" (sarcastic and witty).
- Example: For a lesson in source criticism, you can let students ask the same question to different personalities to analyze how tone and angle affect the information.
Integration with work tools: You can connect Gmail and Google Calendar via so-called 'Connectors' in ChatGPT to, for example, summarize emails and plan your day. However, availability varies by subscription and region, and certain modes are currently limited in the EEA area for Plus/Pro users.
Next steps
You now have a basic understanding of the big picture in ChatGPT-5. In the next lesson, "From Answers to Reasoning: Understanding GPT-5's new 'Thinking'", we will dive deeper into how the new reasoning ability works and how you can leverage it to create more complex and meaningful tasks for your students.