At Middle States, we define powerful learning as an experience in which learners develop purpose and agency as they develop knowledge, skills, and dispositions. ChatGPT Study Mode is not fostering purpose or agency. And it is questionable whether it is fostering knowledge, skills, or dispositions. Which means that at best, tools like ChatGPT’s Study Mode, KhanMigo, Claude’s Learning are anti-cheating tools. 

On May 19, 2025, the bipartisan TAKE IT DOWN Act—Tools to Address Known Exploitation by Immobilizing Technological Deepfakes on Websites and Networks—was signed into law in the United States. This legislation is a timely response to an escalating crisis: the online exploitation of minors, including through the creation and distribution of AI-generated deepfakes.

Who wouldn’t want a fleet of tireless agents doing all the stuff that you don’t have time for, don’t care to do, or maybe don’t even know how to do?

Or is it the start of a modern version of the Sorcerer’s Apprentice? We know how to summon the magic, but we may be about to learn a painful lesson about the difference between agents and agency.