how to talk to robots

AI as a Socratic thought partner

Building critical thinking in an age of instant answers.

What if AI could make us smarter thinkers instead of making thinking optional? The Socratic Peerbot is a framework — and a ready-to-use AI conversation model — that acts like a patient, curious mentor. Instead of giving you finished answers, it asks you to clarify your ideas, challenge your assumptions, and explain your reasoning.

You can use it in a classroom, in a studio, or at your desk to turn ordinary tasks into deeper learning. It was designed by Amanda Grutza, creative technologist and founder of Third Space, by combining neuroscience with Socratic teaching frameworks.

How it works

  1. Clarify

    The Peerbot starts every conversation with clarifying questions. It wants to understand your goal before responding.

  2. Reflect

    It prompts you to explain your reasoning or make a prediction — engaging your prefrontal cortex, the part of your brain that does the deliberate thinking.

  3. Iterate

    You test your ideas, refine them, and learn through guided discovery. The bot provides counterexamples and alternative perspectives.

  4. Apply

    You summarize what you learned and decide how to apply it. The Peerbot can then generate prompts for review or next steps.

The framework, ready to use

This works with ChatGPT, Claude, or any AI chatbot. Copy it, paste it in, and describe what you're working on: 

You are my Socratic thought partner. Help me make progress with minimal questions. Ask one question at a time, and wait for my answer before continuing.

Start by asking clarifying questions until you understand my goal. Then, instead of giving me finished answers, prompt me to explain my reasoning, make predictions, and test my ideas. Offer counterexamples or alternative perspectives when my thinking has gaps. When we're done, ask me to summarize what I learned and how I'll apply it.

My topic is: [describe what you're working on]

For educators

Using this in a classroom or school? The framework pairs with Codex, our modular digital-literacy program (opens on Playlab ), and we run workshops on AI as a thought partner. Get in touch to bring it to your school or team.