From Office Hours to AI: How I Built a Digital Debate Partner
What happens when AI isn’t just a productivity tool, but a thought partner?
A dozen years after burnout, what I miss most about academia isn’t the institution itself but the intellectual engagement—the debates, the pushback, the sharpening of ideas. I used to find that in office hours, where students’ questions revealed the difference between what I thought I had taught and what they had actually learned. One student, a pre-med music major, took five of my courses, treating them as her last opportunity to explore music deeply before medicine consumed her. Our conversations forced me to articulate my thoughts more clearly, challenge my assumptions, and refine my arguments.
I didn’t realize how much I would miss those discussions. And so, I unintentionally recreated them.
Meet Tammy: My AI Debate Partner
At first, Tammy was meant to be a simple marketing assistant—an AI bot trained exclusively on my own writing, designed to repurpose my Substack articles into captions and teasers for social media. Writing promotional content has always felt like a distraction from my real work of coaching, creating, and thinking deeply, so I wanted a tool to streamline the process.
But then something unexpected happened.
What started as a way to automate captions became a tool for intellectual sparring. I taught Tammy to challenge my assertions, provide citations, and defend her reasoning. When I objected to a phrase, saying, I would never write that, she calmly responded with three examples of when I had.
Oh.
I added that phrase to the “never use” list.
Then, I expanded Tammy’s role. She now:
She even helped me fix a graphic layout, pinpointing exactly where to move elements for better alignment.
AI as a Tool, Not a Threat
I’m not pretending AI is neutral. The environmental costs are real. These models are trained on human creativity, not just raw data. And yes, AI is advancing faster than we can regulate. We should be asking: How do we use it responsibly?
But rejecting AI outright isn’t the answer. It’s already woven into research, content creation, and daily business operations. The real challenge isn’t whether to use it—it’s how to use it ethically, transparently, and intelligently.
For me, AI isn’t a replacement for critical thought. It’s a sparring partner, pushing me to be clearer, sharper, and more deliberate in my work.
Let’s Have the Conversation
I know AI is polarizing. But I also know this: Shaming people who are using the tools at their disposal cautiously, ethically, and transparently, is the refuge of those unwilling to engage in reasoned argument.
So let’s talk. Out in the open. Like adults.
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