Socratic Dialogue in the age of AI
From Education Futures by Svenia Busson & Laurent Jolie
May 11, 2026 · 59 min · Season 1 · Episode 41
About this episode
This episode explores the implications of Socratic dialogue in the context of artificial intelligence with scholar Alexander Montag.
What can Socrates teach us about artificial intelligence? In this episode, Svenia Busson sits down with Alexander Montag, a scholar of ancient Greek philosophy finishing his doctorate at Tulane University, and soon to teach at St. John's University in New York as well as to conduct research at the New School for Social Research. Together they explore the concept of Socratic dialogue. We unpack what Socratic dialogue actually means, drawing on some of Plato's most important texts, the Lysis (on friendship and the teacher-student relationship), the Theaetetus and its sequel the Sophist (on knowledge, truth, and the pretender to wisdom), and the Phaedrus (on the dangers of writing itself). Together, they ask: Is AI the new sophist — a convincing pretender to wisdom that can mimic the form of dialogue without ever truly seeking the truth? What does AI sycophancy do to our capacity to think? Can AI ever occupy the role of a teacher we admire and want to emulate? And what happens to philosophical education — and the sacred long-form essay — in a world where students have access to LLMs around the clock? We also dive into the question of teaching philosophy from an early age, the value…
People in this episode
Host: Svenia Busson
Guest: Alexander Montag
Topics covered
- Socratic dialogue
- artificial intelligence
- philosophy education
- interdisciplinary thinking
- humanity and technology
Keywords
- Socrates
- AI
- philosophy
- education
- Plato
- dialogue
- truth
- knowledge
- teaching
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Tulane University, St. John's University, New School for Social Research
Books & works: Plato's Lysis, Theaetetus, Sophist, Phaedrus
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