MSc Tran Hoang Nam - Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Business Administration, Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics and Finance (UEF) - led a study led by Hamsa Bastani (Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania), tested with about 1,000 high school students in Türkiye, divided into three groups when practicing math: not using AI, using a regular GPT-4 version and using a "tutor" version that only suggests, does not give answers.

Results published in PNAS (2025) showed that the group using regular GPT did 48% better on the practice test. But when taking the test without AI, the score was 17% lower than the group without AI.

The group using the tutor version did 127% better on practice tests and did not have a significant drop in score when taking the exam.

Instructions for creating your own AI tutor using 'skill' in Gemini

MSc Tran Hoang Nam suggests that you can take advantage of the "skill" feature in the Gemini application to create AI tutors, no need for a paid package, created once and can be used in every chat.

The Gemini chat box now suggests "Type @ for connectors, skills and more", meaning type @ to call skills - Photo: TRAN HOANG NAM

Step 1 - Prepare course materials:

Collect slides, curriculum chapters, outlines and answers to exercises published by the lecturer. Prioritize PDF, as skill does not currently accept Word (.docx) files.

Step 2 - Open the Customize page:

Go to gemini.google.com, in the sidebar select Customize (or go straight to gemini.google.com/customize/skills). The page has three tabs: Discover, Connectors, and Skills.

Customize Gemini page with three tabs Discover, Connectors, Skills - Photo: TRAN HOANG NAM

Step 3 - Create manual skills:

Select the Skills tab, click Create, then select Create manually. This menu also has Create with Gemini (thank Gemini for helping you prepare) and Upload (upload the SKILL.md file).

Skills tab with Create button in the right corner and suggested skills - Photo: TRAN HOANG NAM

Step 4 - Fill in the three boxes Name, Description, Instructions:

The skill name will be automatically changed by Gemini to lower case with a hyphen, for example gia-su-ai-demo.

The Description box is very important: Gemini relies on the description to know when to use the skill, so clearly write "use when".

The Instructions box is where the tutor command (sample below) is pasted. Done, click Create.

Step 5 - Check and manage skills:

The newly created skill is in the Active section.

Click the three dots next to the name to open the menu: Use now, Edit with Gemini, Edit manually, Download, Replace skill, Deactivate, Delete.

If you want to edit the command, select Edit manually. If you want to temporarily turn it off, select Deactivate.

Skill gia-su-ai-demo is in the Active section - Photo: TRAN HOANG NAM

Step 6 - Call tutor:

In the chat box, type "@" then select the skill name, then type in the topic. If you want the tutor to stick with the document, click the "+" sign in the chat box to attach a file (Upload files, Add from Drive or Notebooks).

Type "@gia" in the chat box, Gemini displays the skill gia-su-ai-demo with a description

An example

On October 28, 2026, I tried the gia-su-ai-demo skill with a familiar problem: a shirt priced at 200,000 VND, 20% off and then another 10% off the already discounted price, asking for the final price.

Instead of solving, the AI ​​tutor immediately asked: "Hello! To solve this problem together, how have you tried to calculate it?".

In the first round, the tutor asks the student how they tried to calculate

I replied "a total discount of 30% so it's 140,000 VND".

The AI ​​tutor did not correct it but pointed to the details of the topic: "The way of thinking of adding two discounts is very common, but please pay attention to help me with this detail: the topic of the second topic is "an additional 10% off the already reduced price".

So first, can you help me figure out how much money is left on the shirt after the first 20% discount?".

The tutor pointed out the misunderstanding of "plus 30%" and asked for the first step

I answered 160,000. Tutor: "Exactly! Now, if you reduce the price of 160,000 VND by 10%, what will the final price of the shirt be?".

I answered 144,000. The tutor correctly praised and checked further: "To make sure you have mastered the essence of the problem, do you realize why reducing 20% ​​and then decreasing another 10% is different from reducing 30% from the beginning?".

The tutor confirms the 144,000 VND and asks the final test question

Other options

Guided learning in Gemini. Click the "+" sign in the chat box, select Guided learning. The chat box shows the chip "Learn" and the suggestion "What do you want to learn?". This mode cannot currently be used with skills.

The "+" menu of the chat box, Guided learning section is located with Create image, Canvas, Deep research.

The chat box after selecting Guided learning shows the chip "Learn"

Study mode in ChatGPT. Type @study or select Study in the "+" menu, available in all plans including free. OpenAI notes that this mode sometimes still gives straight answers.

Gemini Notebook, closest to the documents. Open a notebook that already has course documents, press the three-dot button in the upper right corner, select Configure Chat. There are three styles: Default, Learning Guide (for learning new concepts) and Custom.

A sample notebook in Gemini Notebook with source on the left and Studio on the right

Maximum:

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