One of the reasons I’m saddened that formal debate isn’t taught in schools anymore is that we’ve lost a key skill in not only communicating, but also in critical thinking and research.
In debate, you’d often have to argue for the side that doesn’t match your own personal view. You’d be forced to research, refine your understanding, and in some cases actually change your opinion because you realized you were wrong. Because that’s the thing about an opinion, right? Despite what the internet and social media will have you believe, it’s not fact. It’s not the whole truth. It’s your perspective on something.
I was thinking about this recently when rethinking the AI agents I use. For design work, I often add a “devil’s advocate” agent, something we used to do in planning meetings when I still worked in the office. One person would always argue the counter-position to introduce healthy skepticism, force the team to justify their ideas with stronger evidence, and push us to think outside the box for more creative solutions.
The problem? Some people were better at this than others. And over time, as I work with younger and newer team members, I’m finding this skill lacking more and more.
The AI agent version? Just plain terrible. These models don’t have decent reasoning skills yet, and at best they’re still too much of a sycophant; eager to please rather than challenge.
With humans, the problem has become that social media pushes this idea of “your truth,” which often conflicts with actual facts. This makes us polarized and convinced our view is the only view. Not being able to sit in someone else’s shoes and argue the counter-point hurts us as a society.
And it hurts us when building software too.
We need people who can challenge assumptions, who can argue both sides, who can find the flaws in their own thinking before shipping code. Without that skill, we’re just building echo chambers in silicon.
I don’t recall the trigger for this one, but it’s been on my mind lately. And since my current obsession is a loss of soft-skills in the age of AI, this felt like a good time to write it down.