On Teachers’ Day, OpenAI is celebrating the role of educators and the power of questions in learning. The campaign is set in a university classroom and takes a humorous look at how the relationship between teachers and students is changing, while reinforcing the importance of educators in a world with AI. A good question, the piece argues, can bring a hidden doubt to light, open a new path to solving a problem, or help students recognize what they already know.

Two concrete offerings back up that message. First, OpenAI is launching the AI for Educators course in Brazilian Portuguese on OpenAI Academy, its free learning platform. Designed for teachers in primary, secondary, and higher education, the course shows how to use AI to plan lessons, create activities and assessments, and prepare communications, while preserving educators’ pedagogical judgment.

Second is Study Mode, a ChatGPT feature that helps learners explore a subject step by step with questions, hints, explanations, and checks for understanding. It was developed in collaboration with teachers, scientists, and pedagogy experts, and is meant to encourage active participation and reflection on one’s own reasoning. To enable it, users select Study from the tools menu in ChatGPT. A biology student, for example, could prompt: “I’m studying enzymes. Ask me one question at a time, wait for my answer, and help me identify what I need to review.”

The article also suggests a classroom pattern: after a class explores a topic like evaporation with Study Mode, each student writes their own explanation and a question for discussion without referring back to the conversation. The teacher can then use those responses to see what needs to be revisited. Teachers are encouraged to try Study Mode on subjects they know well to judge whether its questions promote reasoning and whether its explanations suit their class.

OpenAI frames these tools as useful in different teaching contexts but places the teacher at the center: technology can open new ways to learn, but teachers know their students, ask the most important questions, and help turn curiosity into knowledge.