GenAI for Socratic Dialogue

This challenge demonstrates the potential of generative AI to support inquiry-based learning by simulating Socratic dialogue.

By prompting GenAI to act as a Socratic tutor, educators can create dynamic, reflective activities that guide students to examine their beliefs, uncover assumptions, and strengthen their reasoning. This activity emphasizes the role of AI in fostering critical thinking, self-questioning, and philosophical inquiry across disciplines such as ethics, literature, social science, and philosophy.

Challenge

The GPT store offers access to over 1,000 GPTs that you can use for free with a ChatGPT account. One of the most powerful uses in an educational setting is turning ChatGPT into a Socratic tutor.

With a carefully designed prompt, GenAI can respond only with open-ended, thoughtful questions. This allows students to practice articulating their ideas, refining arguments, and thinking deeply about complex topics. It’s an ideal tool for instructors building critical thinking into their curriculum or students looking to improve their reflective reasoning skills.

For this challenge, you’ll prompt GenAI to simulate a Socratic dialogue based on a question from your discipline, and engage with it as a student would.

Instructions

1. Access a GenAI model of your choice, e.g ChatGPT, MS Co-pilot, Claude, Gemini
2. Enter the Socratic prompt. Copy and paste this base prompt:
   “Act as a Socratic tutor. Do not give direct answers. Instead, respond only with thoughtful, probing questions that help me clarify my thinking. Begin by asking, ‘What do you believe about [topic] and why?’ and guide me through deeper reasoning with each answer I give.”
3. Choose a topic. Select a big question relevant to your class or interest. For example:
   “Is technology making us more or less free?”
   “What is fairness in education?”
   “Can AI ever truly be creative?”
   “Is it ever justifiable to break the law?”
4. Engage in the dialogue. Respond authentically to the models questions and follow the line of reasoning. Let it challenge your thinking and help you reflect more deeply.
5. Optional: Try this out using ChatGPT or Gemini voice

Reflect and Share

What does this challenge reveal about the role of AI in teaching and learning? Try it out and share what you discovered in the comment box below, whether it’s your final product, a reflection, or a surprising insight.