Six Ways to Make AI a Thinking Partner
Choose a workflow that matches the thinking you want learners to do.
Compare & Challenge
Compare • Analyse • Judge
Students examine competing AI responses and determine which is stronger.
- Compare explanations
- Investigate evidence
- Make a judgement
- Justify the decision
Owns the thinking
- Generate alternatives
- Respond to questions
- Challenge assumptions
- Provide counterarguments
Changes the conditions
AI Boundary
AI CAN
Generate three plausible responses of varying quality.
AI MUST NOT
Identify which response is strongest or correct.
Evidence Detective
Verify • Analyse • Evaluate
Students investigate AI-generated claims rather than accepting them at face value.
- Identify claims needing evidence
- Investigate sources and data
- Judge reliability
- Correct inaccurate claims
Owns the thinking
- Produce claims for verification
- Answer follow-up questions
- Suggest where evidence might be found
- Respond to challenges
Changes the conditions
AI Boundary
AI CAN
Produce a short text containing a mix of supported and unsupported claims.
AI MUST NOT
Label which claims are true or false.
Socratic AI
Question • Reason • Explain
AI asks questions and counter-questions instead of simply providing answers.
- State an initial idea
- Explain reasoning
- Respond to counter-questions
- Refine their position
Owns the thinking
- Ask probing questions
- Pose counter-examples
- Request justification
- Highlight gaps in reasoning
Changes the conditions
AI Boundary
AI CAN
Ask one probing question at a time in response to student reasoning.
AI MUST NOT
Supply the answer or rewrite the student's explanation.
Bias Hunter
Interrogate • Perspective • Evaluate
Students identify assumptions, missing perspectives and potential bias.
- Detect assumptions
- Identify missing voices
- Explore alternative perspectives
- Judge the overall fairness
Owns the thinking
- Produce an account to interrogate
- Respond from requested perspectives
- Explain its framing when asked
- Offer counter-framings
Changes the conditions
AI Boundary
AI CAN
Write a one-sided account and respond when asked to adopt other perspectives.
AI MUST NOT
Point out its own bias or decide which perspective is right.
Critique → Revise
Critique • Improve • Justify
Students diagnose weaknesses in AI-generated work and improve it.
- Diagnose weaknesses
- Critique against criteria
- Revise the work
- Justify each improvement
Owns the thinking
- Produce a flawed draft
- Respond to critique
- Explain choices when asked
- Offer feedback on revisions
Changes the conditions
AI Boundary
AI CAN
Produce a deliberately imperfect draft and give feedback on student revisions.
AI MUST NOT
Produce the improved version or list its own flaws.
Human → AI → Human
Think • Compare • Decide
Students think independently before AI enters the process.
This workflow protects initial independent thinking before students encounter AI-generated perspectives.
- Think and record ideas alone
- Compare own ideas with AI's
- Decide what to keep or reject
- Improve their own work
Owns the thinking
- Offer an alternative perspective
- Answer targeted questions
- Surface ideas students missed
- Challenge student conclusions
Changes the conditions
AI Boundary
AI CAN
Respond only after students have recorded their own independent thinking.
AI MUST NOT
Be consulted before students commit to an initial idea, or make the final decision.