How debating skills can help us in the fight against AI

Debating skills have a range of benefits in the workplace, from helping to improve our communication to bolstering our critical thinking skills. Research from the University of Mississippi suggests it might also help us in the battle with AI in the workplace.

We can often assume that debate teaches us nothing more than how to argue our point, but in order to do this, we have to understand both our own take on a subject and that of our opponent.

This allows us to see both sides of any issue we happen to be debating.

"Even though AI has offered a shortcut through the writing process, it actually still is important to be able to write and speak and think on your own," the researchers explain.

"That's what the focus of this research is: how debate engenders those aspects of being able to write and speak and study and research on your own."

The right stuff

The study argues that developing debating skills helps us to develop the ability to research a topic well, to understand it fully, and also to empathize enough with others to see opposing points of view. So why does this matter when it comes to grappling with AI?

The authors cite previous research showing how the use of AI-based tools for tasks such as writing and reading significantly reduces the text's accuracy and our ability to comprehend it. Indeed, the study found that writing accuracy can fall by up to a quarter.

They explain that this can have implications across both the academic and professional worlds, especially at a time when literacy and reading comprehension are in retreat in the United States. Indeed, the National Assessment of Education Progress recently reported that under half of fourth graders in the country were at a proficient reading level.

"We thought about the greatest concerns that people have about artificial intelligence – namely, that it's going to make people worse at critical thinking and worse at argument construction," the authors explain.

"We saw that debate offers skills that could make students better able to navigate those problems."

Knowing your stuff

They explain that formulating an effective debate requires more than a cursory knowledge of the topic being debated. It requires more than the kind of bullet point lists that AI often returns.

AI may be able to effectively initiate a discussion, but debating requires you to listen and respond to your opponent's points in a time-pressured environment. In essence, you have to build and rebuild your arguments in real-time, constantly comparing and weighing up possible answers.

Effective debaters learn to master it, but the current generation of AI tools is struggling with it. Debating is a concept that has been used for hundreds of years to help people learn and understand complex topics. As such, it's been at the heart of the education process at leading universities for over a hundred years.

"The early philosophical societies may have vehemently disagreed on a subject, but they were willing to sit across a table from each other and treat each other's arguments with respect," the researchers explain.

"That was always viewed as valuable."

Seeing the opposite side

Debates are also crucial in helping us walk in other people's shoes, as they require participants to understand other people's opinions and points of view in order to effectively counter them. This level of empathy is something that AI will struggle to replicate, but it's something that is at the very heart of debating.

"Empathy is really about understanding the perspective of others, and debate does that in a variety of ways," the authors continue. "Most debate preparation is thinking about what the other side says, what they believe, what they are likely to argue against you."

This isn't an antagonistic response but rather one that provides participants with a holistic understanding of a topic. Indeed, many people leave a debate better equipped to see the opposing points of view and understand why people may hold them.

The right tools

Given the value of debate in providing participants with the kind of skills required to thrive in an AI-driven world, the researchers hope that schools and even employers will make debating a key part of the education they provide to students and employees.

Not only can debating help people to learn how to research effectively but they also help participants to come away from the process better informed, both of their own point of view and that of their opponents.

In a polarized world, that can be extremely useful and give people the tools to thrive in the complex and often divided world we live in.