As a kid, getting help with my math homework was difficult. My parents would stare glassy-eyed at my algebra, trying to recall something they didn't know how to do decades ago. Eventually, they'd shrug, and pass the assignment back to me. If I wanted help to solve an equation I was stuck on, it was down to me to re-read my textbooks and in-class notes to figure out what to do, even if I never really grasped why you performed the steps required to solve algebraic equations.

Flash forward a good few decades, and I'm watching slack-jawed as ChatGPT-4o not only solved an equation written on a piece of paper, but it went through each individual step and explained why it did what it did. And yes, there's no strict age at which you can stop learning, so there's nothing stopping me from finally discovering why I did what I did in those math exams all those years ago. But I still can't help but wonder how GPT-4o could have been my ultimate tutor as a kid.

The ability to work through equations is amazing

No plugging in an equation and just getting an answer

To start, let's explore the feature that inspired me to write about this in the first place. If you want to see this demonstration for yourself, check out this timestamped link for the algebra demonstration. During the demonstration, GPT-4o is shown a written equation through the phone's camera. Not only could GPT-4o identify that it was looking at an equation, but when asked, it could break down how to solve it step-by-step. It prompted the demonstrators to think about the process themselves and even corrected them when they made errors.

What I love most about this demonstration is how GPT-4o took a tutor-like approach to helping the demonstrator through the equation. Anyone can punch an equation into something like Wolfram Alpha and take note of the result, but the real value is showing people how and why to solve them; that's what gets people through exams. As such, you can bet your bottom dollar I would have been using this tech to help me through my maths homework; I might even use it as an adult as a refresher course.

GPT-4o's translation capabilities make learning a language easier

Your own personal language tutor

But enough about me bemoaning math class at school; let's look at another cool thing GPT-4o can do. During the presentation, two presenters used the voice-based conversation feature of GPT-4o to translate a conversation on the fly. In the example, they had one person speaking English and the other in Italian. When one person spoke in their language, GPT-4o would automatically translate it into the other person's language. And because GPT-4o uses a powerful text-to-speech system, GPT-4o could act as a middleman, telling each demonstrator what the other said.

Again, this isn't strictly a feature that's only good for people learning languages. For example, having GPT-4o on hand while traveling in a foreign country would be a great way to ensure people can understand what you're saying, and vice versa. But I can imagine GPT-4o being a huge help for people learning languages at school. Not only can you point the camera at something that needs translating and see what it says, but you could also get some speaking and conversational practice with it.

GPT-4o is a handy educational tool alongside a planned-out course, not a replacement

Teachers have nothing to fear

AI advancement is a double-edged sword. Whenever artificial intelligence performs a role it could never do before, it threatens the jobs of those who perform said role as a living. However, as cool as GPT-4o is at teaching us things, I really doubt it will take over the position of a teacher. Teachers are always needed to help direct a class through a curriculum, ensuring they learn every part required for them to pass. They can also identify the pain points and learning styles of their students and use that to help people better understand the topic.

As such, I can totally see kids learning about a topic in class, then using GPT-4o to iron out anything they don't get and get aid with their homework. Plus, it'd be a lot more educational than people simply Googling the answers to their homework and filling in the blanks.

GPT-4o can revolutionize how we learn

I definitely wouldn't say I'm bitter that "those darn kids have it good these days" with AI. After all, anything they can learn with AI, I could also learn if I wanted to put the effort into it. However, there is a part of me that wishes that GPT-4o was around when I was at school, and I'm sure my stumped parents would feel the same way.