Why arguing with AI helps businessstudents to understand it
Why arguing with AI helps businessstudents to understand it
Publish Date: 2026-06-25 05:55:00
Source Domain: www.timeshighereducation.com
Universities have largely responded to generative artificial intelligence in one of two ways: ban it or permit it with a disclaimer about responsible use. Neither is sufficient because both treat AI as an integrity problem rather than a pedagogical one.
The more consequential question is whether students can evaluate what AI gives them. Workplaces need graduates who can interrogate a model’s reasoning, identify where it is confidently wrong and take responsibility for the decision that follows.
These capabilities do not develop by accident or through AI disclosure policies. In my business information systems (BIS) course, I designed two assessments built around this principle. The first is a live debate in which students are assigned positions on how AI is reshaping work, with motions covering individual, organisational and future-of-work impact.
The second task follows directly from the first. Students take one position they defended in the debate, ask an AI tool to produce a counterargument, and then evaluate it in writing, identifying which aspects are well reasoned, where it overreaches and where it fails to engage with the disciplinary evidence. They must explain why they agree or disagree, using course concepts. Learning emerges through the interaction itself, as students test their assumptions, reconsider their reasoning and decide which claims withstand scrutiny. The task does not ask whether the AI was right; it asks whether the student can tell.
Design principles for developing judgement of AI outputs
Here are three key design principles to enhance learning that happens through interaction with AI.
1. Create a stake in the question
Students need a position before they engage AI as a critical tool. A common failure in AI literacy pedagogy is asking students to evaluate an AI output before they have developed any stake in the question. Without a defended position, students have nothing to test the AI against.
The way to create that stake is through tasks…
