While academics continue to consider the possible positive and negative implications of AI for university-based teaching and learning, there’s one AI tool that has educators very excited about its power. This is a tool that can not only help students engage in dialogue with each other about difficult subjects but that can in the process help them learn how to speak and listen in more respectful, productive ways.

The tool is Sway, an AI-facilitated chat platform developed by Heterodox Academy Research Fellow Simon Cullen and Carnegie Mellon University Philosophy postdoctoral fellow Nicholas DiBella.

While many AI programs threaten to leave students less knowledgeable and less skilled – doing research and writing for them, for example, or incentivizing them to be polite rather than constructively engaging – Cullen and DiBella have designed Sway to push students to engage across differences, reason more rigorously and charitably about opposing viewpoints, and work through differences.

At a recent members-only HxA workshop, Cullen and DiBella explained that Sway works to build the skill of constructive dialogue through structured practice. The team has the data to show it works. Students using Sway report they are learning to talk about controversial ideas. They also report discovering that people often hold opposing viewpoints for good – albeit previously unappreciated – reasons. Sway is helping them break out of boxes and reach each other.

So, how does it work?

Sway allows instructors to decide which viewpoints students will discuss and then sets up what might be thought of as “rooms” for students to meet one-on-one. (If there’s an odd number of students, one room will have three students.) Sway surveys students on their views in order to pair them up with classmates who disagree. Students then chat via text using Sway, discussing the reasons and evidence for their points of view.

What makes Sway special is the AI discussion facilitator, called “Guide” which participates in every chat and contributes something like an experienced instructor would. Guide helps students clarify arguments, poses thoughtful questions that deepen the discussion, and makes sure that both students’ voices are heard.

The platform also detects snarky, unconstructive messages and helps students learn to express themselves in more constructive ways instead. The Sway team calls this “charitable rephrasing.” The platform also blocks slurs, mere insults, and ad hominem attacks – rhetorical moves that can undermine meaningful discussion.

Drawing on authoritative scholarly sources, Guide can answer many factual questions that students find they have in the course of the discussion. Importantly, Guide also requires students to participate actively by keeping track of who is “talking” and balancing out the airtime.

In short, besides being readily available to bring evidence to bear to the conversation, the AI facilitator helps the students present their ideas well and in the process trains them how to do this in the rest of their lives. Because the “other side” is also being presented well with AI’s help, students learn that “opposing” viewpoints are often quite reasonable.

In short, Sway puts the “constructive” in “constructive disagreement.”

We know that a big block to constructive dialogue is self-censorship. Sway can help with that, too. It doesn’t share students' chats' content with instructors, and students can use pseudonyms. Combining these features with the one-on-one setting means students are far less likely to self-censor in Sway chats. Over 90% of Sway students report feeling “comfortable sharing my honest opinions with my partner.”

Although Sway doesn’t show the contents of students’ conversations to instructors, it does report whether students showed up and engaged, so they can be held accountable for this part of their coursework. This prevents “free-riding.”

The platform also generates de-identified Instructor Reports that provide deep insight not only into what students believe, but why they believe it, where they are able to find common ground, and where they persistently disagree. This can provide instructors critical understanding of where students are coming from.

At our recent workshop on Sway, HxA members – about 60 professors from a wide variety of institutions and disciplines – were broken into pairs and given a chance to try Sway. When the room reconvened, the results were overwhelmingly enthusiastic, with some participants saying they were going to figure out how to incorporate Sway into their own courses.

Thanks to funding provided for Sway, all educators at institutions of higher learning can use Sway for free. So far, over 2,000 students have used the platform and they’ve given it rave reviews.

Of course, a great teacher can do a lot of what Sway’s Guide does. But, in DiBella’s words, “Guide remembers everything, has infinite stamina, and has an enviable level of calm and levelheadedness.” That supercharges an instructor’s powers, especially considering that Guide can be in every paired conversation, something an instructor cannot easily do. Guide can also be used before live group discussions to get students ready for a vigorous exchange in the classroom.

The data coming out of the Sway team’s research is impressive, suggesting that even one 30-minute conversation can help people show less disdain for those with differing viewpoints. Importantly, students rate the Sway experience highly. Many feel liberated to talk about hard topics that may otherwise involve a lot of self-censorship. Students also report finding it valuable to engage with someone who disagrees with them.

Sway is free, it’s very well-designed, it can be used for any topic, and it looks to be a serious gamechanger for those of us teaching controversial subjects and trying to teach students the skills of constructive dialogue. Get started here.