Symbai is an AI-powered debate education platform that combines argument mapping with competitive debating. It creates visual “debatetrees” that help students understand complex arguments, develop critical thinking skills, and engage in structured debates with AI opponents.

Critical thinking is crucial in today’s economy and workplace:

• Most Lacking Skill: 60% of US managers report critical thinking as the skill most lacking in college graduates (survey of 63,924 managers)
• Employer Priority: 93% of employers agree that “a candidate’s demonstrated capacity to think critically, communicate clearly, and solve complex problems is more important than their undergraduate major”.
• Business Value: 72% of employers believe critical thinking is important to their business success.
• Career Impact: 90% of former debaters say debate experience has been extremely valuable in their careers

Despite this importance, only 9% of university instructors feel they regularly teach critical thinking, even though 89% view it as important.

Symbai is designed for:

• Learners of all ages and stages, from primary through to secondary education and beyond
• Gifted and talented education programs
• Debate clubs and teams
• English and Social Studies classes
• Anyone wanting to improve their critical thinking and argumentation skills

Research shows debate training is highly effective:

• Competitive Debating: 50% improvement on Watson-Glaser critical thinking tests after 1 year
• Public Speaking: 34% improvement on critical thinking assessments
• Logic Classes: 31% improvement (for comparison)

This makes competitive debating the most effective method for developing critical thinking skills.

Symbai offers several unique advantages:

• 24/7 Availability: Students can practice anytime without needing a human opponent
• Visual Learning: Arguments are mapped visually as “debatetrees” for better understanding
• Immediate Feedback: AI provides instant adjudication and improvement suggestions
• Structured Framework: Enforces proper debate structure and logical consistency
• Personalized Difficulty: AI adapts to student skill levels

In short, no. Argument maps actually simplify debates by providing clarity and structure:

Visual Clarity Benefits:

• Clear Argument Structure: Icons provide ‘at a glance’ views of debate logic and relationships
• Instant Recognition: Teachers can quickly identify problematic debate tactics (e.g., multiple ‘foul play’ icons)
• Pedagogical Effectiveness: Proven to be incredibly effective for learning argumentation
• Rich Insights: Understand student thinking even when they write minimal content

Simplification Through Structure:

The debating process becomes manageable with three simple steps:

1. Find an argument to build on or attack (click a node – easier than finding text in an essay)
2. Pick the appropriate icon from the toolkit that matches what you want to say
3. Write your argument following the guidance for that icon type

Learning Interface Once:

Students learn complex interfaces quickly when engaged. Consider that most primary-aged children voluntarily learn Minecraft – a 3D game with hundreds of icons and multiple instruction levels. Symbai uses far fewer icons than most video games students already master.

Yes! Symbai is designed to work across year levels and subjects, making it incredibly valuable.

Cross-Curricular Applications:

• Science: “This house believes that solar power is superior to wind power”
• English: “This house believes that Shakespeare intended Romeo and Juliet to be admired as a couple”
• Media Studies: “This house believes that Thanos was right”
• History: “This house believes that the Treaty of Versailles made WW2 inevitable”
• Social Studies: Any current issues or policy debates

Compound Learning Benefits:

When adopted school-wide, students practice the same critical thinking framework across subjects, reducing cognitive load and improving academic performance. Teachers can also distinguish between argumentation difficulties and subject-specific content gaps.
Research shows: Schools using standardized frameworks (like common essay structures) across subjects see improved student outcomes as cognitive load is reduced.

Symbai aligns with New Zealand Curriculum objectives by developing:

• Critical Thinking: Analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of complex ideas
• Communication: Structured written argumentation and clarity of expression
• Digital Competency: Using AI tools effectively and ethically
• Cultural Perspectives: Examining issues from multiple viewpoints
• Research Skills: Finding and evaluating evidence

Yes! The teacher dashboard provides:

• Individual student debate histories and performance metrics
• Class-wide analytics and progress tracking
• Ability to set specific debate topics aligned with curriculum
• Export capabilities for assessment and reporting
• Insights into areas where students need additional support

Absolutely! Symbai is ideal for Gifted and Talented Education because it:

• Provides intellectual challenges beyond standard curriculum
• Develops higher-order thinking skills
• Offers extension opportunities for advanced students
• Teaches formal debate principles and advanced argumentation
• Allows self-paced learning for students who need acceleration
• Many schools use GATE budget allocations to fund Symbai subscriptions.

Symbai is designed for quick deployment:

• Teacher Account: 5 minutes to create account and get class code
• Student Registration: 2-3 minutes per student using class code
• First Debate: Students can start their first debate immediately
• Organization Customization: Optional “Quick Setup with AI” takes 30 seconds for known organizations
• Full Class Setup: Entire class can be debating within 15 minutes
• No Installation Required: Everything runs in the web browser – no software to install or configure.

A great place to begin is by using our curriculum and onboarding chatbot. It’s designed to give you lesson plans and activity ideas tailored to your specific subject and learning objectives. The chatbot can help you leverage all of Symbai’s features to create engaging experiences for your students.

Here is a simple, effective way to structure your first lesson:

A Typical “Live Silent Debate” Lesson

1. Prep (5 mins): Choose a motion and share it with your class with a single click.
2. Silent Debate (15-25 mins): Students engage individually with Symbai on their devices. This ensures every student is actively thinking and writing.
3. Your Role – The Coach on the Side: This is where Symbai shines. Instead of teaching from the front, you use your teacher dashboard to see a live overview of every student’s debate map. You can see who is struggling, who is excelling, and provide targeted, one-on-one support without disrupting the class.
4. Class Discussion (10-15 mins): After the silent debate, lock all student debates to get everyone’s attention.
5. Now, you can project a student’s debate and facilitate a rich discussion, highlighting strong arguments and addressing common challenges.

Ready for More? Creative Classroom Strategies

Once you’re comfortable with the basics, Symbai’s flexibility opens up a world of creative teaching opportunities. The granular controls allow you to design unique learning experiences that go far beyond a standard lesson. Don’t forget to ask the curriculum and onboarding chatbot for more ideas!

Collaborative “3 vs. 1” Group Debates:

• How it works: Put students into small groups to tackle a single debate. One student shares their screen while the group collaborates on each move.
• Why it’s great: This fosters teamwork, communication, and peer-to-peer teaching, reducing the pressure on individual students.

“Find the Flaw” Mission:

• How it works: Set the AI Difficulty to ‘Easy’. In this mode, Symbai is programmed to make arguments with intentional logical flaws. Frame the lesson as a puzzle where students must find and explain the errors.
• Why it’s great: This gamifies the process of identifying logical fallacies, a key skill for critical thinking and media literacy.

The Multi-Day Differentiated Project:

• How it works: Use Symbai’s controls to scaffold a project over several days.
• Day 1: Case Construction. Use the View Negative Only setting to hide Symbai’s arguments, forcing students to build their own case first. Lock the debate at the end of class.
• Homework: Have students research and add a ‘Supporting Evidence’ node.
• Day 2: Rebuttal. Unlock the debates and reveal Symbai’s case. Now, the focus is purely on rebuttal.
  Why it’s great: This breaks down a complex task and allows you to differentiate by setting unique AI difficulties, toolkit restrictions, or AI Tutor access for each student.

Students typically become proficient very quickly:

• First Session: 15-20 minutes to understand basic navigation and icons
• Second Session: Students are building arguments independently
• One Week: Full proficiency with all features

Why It’s Quick to Learn:

• Intuitive Icons: Visual symbols clearly indicate argument types
• Guided Process: Three simple steps: find a node, pick an icon, write your argument
• Similar to Gaming: Most students already navigate complex game interfaces – Symbai is simpler than Minecraft!
• Built-in Help: Hover tooltips and contextual guidance throughout

Teacher Feedback – “My Year 9 students were debating confidently within 20 minutes of their first login.”

While ChatGPT provides conversational AI responses, Symbai is specifically designed for structured debate education:

• Visual Argument Mapping: Arguments are displayed as interactive “debatetrees” showing logical relationships
• Structured Debate Framework: Students learn formal debate principles, not just chat
• Multi-Agent System: Specialized AI agents handle different aspects: building arguments, creating rebuttals, and evaluating logic
• Educational Focus: Tracks progress, enforces proper argumentation, and provides pedagogical feedback
• Teacher Controls: Teachers can monitor, lock debates, control AI assistance, and track time spent
• Debate-Specific Training: Uses models from the ChatGPT 4.1 series (June 2024) and 4.0 mini, but specialized for debate

Think of it this way – ChatGPT is like having a conversation, while Symbai is like having a debate coach that teaches proper argumentation structure.

Symbai provides comprehensive data management options:

During Studies:

• Archive Feature: Teachers can archive completed debates instead of deleting them
• Export Options: Students and teachers can export their debates
• Portfolio Building: Students maintain a record of their argumentation development

Upon Graduation:

• Data Export: Teachers can download all data in PDF format (narrative report)
• Student Access: Graduates can request their debate history
• Privacy Compliance: Full GDPR/CCPA compliance with data portability
• Clean Transition: Teachers can remove graduated students while preserving their own teaching materials

Data Retention:

• Active accounts: Data retained while account is active
• Inactive accounts: Archived after 12 months of inactivity
• Deletion requests: Honored within 30 days
• Teaching resources: Teacher’s original debates remain accessible

Currently, Symbai does not feature a dedicated parent portal. As the platform is still in its beta phase, our primary focus has been on perfecting the learning experience and the tools available to teachers and students in the classroom.

We believe that the teacher is the key facilitator of learning. Teachers have a comprehensive dashboard where they can see all of their students’ work, including their argument maps, scores, and the AI-driven feedback they receive.

We recommend that parents connect directly with their child’s teacher for updates on their progress. Teachers can share insights, examples of their child’s work, and discuss areas of growth during regular parent-teacher communication.

We are actively exploring how to best involve parents in the future, and we appreciate your understanding as we work to build the most effective and secure educational tool for students and teachers.

Symbai’s approach to safety is teacher-centric. We believe that the educator, not the AI, is best equipped to guide students through complex and sensitive issues. Therefore, we provide teachers with a robust set of tools to create a safe and productive learning environment that aligns with their curriculum and community standards.

Our Layered, Teacher-Led Safety Model:

1. Teacher in Control of the Topic: You, the teacher, have 100% control over the debate motions – students CANNOT start their own debates with Symbai, they can only receive debates that you share with them. If a student tries to steer Symbai towards topics outside of the scope of their assigned topic, Symbai will not engage the student’s argument and will politely remind them to stay on-topic. This ensures that all discussions are grounded in your curriculum and are appropriate for your students’ age and maturity level. We provide best practices guidelines to help guide your decisions, but every student is different, and you know your students better than we do.
   You can see all student debates, allowing you to monitor the content and direction of their arguments. You can also track the time that the student has spent in the debate, and if you find that a student is acting inappropriately you can lock them out of the debate. This locking feature is also useful for pausing an activity to facilitate a class discussion, and it is especially important for ensuring students under 13 are only using Symbai under your direct supervision, as per our Terms of Service.
2. “Misuse/Foul Play” Detection: The AI is trained to identify and flag common debate misconduct, such as personal attacks , strawman arguments, and other poor debating tactics. This helps teach students the rules of respectful, evidence-based discourse.

Symbai is designed to be a versatile tool for students from primary school through to tertiary education. We strongly believe that critical thinking can be taught at any age.

We have built in powerful differentiation tools that allow educators to tailor the experience to their specific students’ needs. Features like:

• Adjustable AI Difficulty: Teachers can set the complexity of the AI’s arguments and rebuttals, from ‘Easy’ mode which uses simple language and contains intentional flaws for younger students to identify, to ‘Expert’ mode which provides a challenge for university-level debaters.
• Customizable Toolkit: The visual debating toolkit can be simplified for younger learners. Teachers can choose to show all argument types, or limit the visible tools to just focus on foundational skills like substantive arguments or rebuttal.
• AI Tutor Access: The AI Tutor can be enabled or disabled for individual students, providing extra scaffolding for those who need it while allowing more advanced students to work independently.

These features ensure that Symbai can be effectively integrated across a wide range of age groups and abilities. The key factor is that students need basic typing skills and the ability to construct written arguments, but the visual interface helps younger students grasp complex logical relationships more easily than traditional essay formats.

Important Note for Younger Students:

For students under the age of 13, it is a requirement that they use Symbai only in a classroom setting under the direct supervision of a teacher. Teachers have the ability to lock debates to prevent unsupervised use outside of class hours.

Schools have successfully funded Symbai through multiple sources:

• GATE/Extension Budgets: As an advanced critical thinking tool
• Literacy Funding: For developing written argumentation skills
• Digital Technologies Budget: As an AI-powered learning platform
• Equity Funding: Providing debate coaching access to all students
• AI Upskilling Grants: Preparing students for AI-integrated workplaces
• Community Sponsorship: Toastmasters, Rotary clubs, and local business sponsors
• Gaming Trusts: Community gaming machine proceeds for education
• PTA Fundraising: Targeted campaigns for critical thinking tools

Note: Many organizations sponsor school debating teams and competitions – Symbai extends this investment year-round.

Symbai’s mission is to bring debate benefits to every student. We offer flexible solutions:

Current Opportunity:

• Free Trials: We’re partnering with schools for extended trials to gather feedback
• Personalized Demo: Book a demo to claim your free trial

Future Pricing Support:

• Cluster Purchasing: Multiple schools can share subscriptions
• Staged Implementation: Start with debate clubs, expand to classrooms
• Grant Application Support: We help prepare funding applications
• Multiple Funding Streams: Combine different budget sources

Symbai is web-based and requires:

• Internet Connection: Broadband recommended
• Modern Web Browser: Chrome, Firefox, Brave, or Edge (updated versions) – Some of our visual elements are not supported by Safari. Symbai detects when Safari is being used and reminds the user to use another browser.
• Device: Works on computers, tablets, and Chromebooks
• No Installation: Everything runs in the browser
• No Special Hardware: Standard school computers are sufficient

Yes, we take data security seriously:

• All data is encrypted in transit and at rest
• We comply with New Zealand privacy laws
• No student personal information is shared with third parties
• Teachers control all student account creation
• Regular security audits and updates

We recommend starting strategically for maximum impact:

Recommended Launch Strategy:

1. Debate Clubs First: Perfect alignment with existing goals and vocabulary – coaches see immediate return on investment.
2. Gifted & Talented Programs: Ideal for extending advanced learners with intellectual challenges
3. Student Ambassadors: These early users become advocates, helping other students and teachers
4. Classroom Expansion: Roll out to willing teachers, then expand based on success

Why This Works

Many schools use debate clubs to extend gifted learners. Starting here creates expertise and enthusiasm that naturally spreads to classrooms. The benefits become more pronounced as more faculty adopt Symbai.

This is actually an advantage, not a problem:

Student Benefits:

• Future-Ready Skills: Students increasingly worry that school isn’t preparing them for AI-integrated workplaces
• Trailblazer Respect: Students respect teachers committed to ensuring relevant skills
• Engagement Factor: Symbai is fun! Students enjoy the gamified learning experience
• Micro-Credentials: Symbai will soon offer credentials valued by employers for critical thinking skills

Likely Outcome:

Other classes are more likely to be envious of your students’ engaging learning experience than dismissive of it.

Getting started is easy:

1. Contact Us: Request a demo or trial for your school
2. Trial Period: Test Symbai with a group of students
3. Professional Development: We’ll train your teachers
4. Implementation: Roll out to your chosen classes
5. Ongoing Support: We’re here to help throughout

We provide comprehensive support:

• Initial Training: Professional development for all staff
• Technical Support: Email and phone support during school hours

Absolutely! We offer:

• Free Demo: See Symbai in action with your team
• Free Trial Period: Extended trial for your school
• No Long-term Contracts: Flexible subscription options

Symbai takes a thoughtful approach to AI cheating concerns by making authentic engagement more appealing and practical than attempting to cheat.

Rather than being a tech “gotcha” solution focused on catching bad behavior, Symbai creates an environment where cheating is both difficult and unnecessary:

Technical barriers that discourage cheating:

• Copy/paste controls: Teachers can disable copy/paste functionality, making it extremely difficult for students to copy debate content to external AI tools or paste AI-generated responses back into Symbai.
• Fullscreen requirements: Students must remain in fullscreen mode during debates, with the system actively monitoring and enforcing this requirement. This makes switching to other applications to access AI tools practically impossible.
• Cumbersome cheating process: While Symbai’s argument mapping system is intuitive for students to use, trying to cheat would be incredibly tedious. Students would need to constantly navigate in and out of different argument nodes, manually describe each connection and argument type, and translate the visual debate structure into lengthy text prompts for external AI tools – all without copy/paste functionality. The time and effort required would far exceed just engaging authentically with the debate.

But more importantly, Symbai addresses the root cause:

The real power of Symbai isn’t in preventing cheating through technical barriers – it’s in creating an experience so engaging and rewarding that students prefer authentic participation. Symbai turns critical thinking into a game, complete with scoring and immediate feedback. Students quickly discover that this gamified approach makes intellectual challenge genuinely enjoyable.

When students experience this engaging format, they naturally develop an appetite for the “brain-burn” of genuine debate and feel the pride that comes from thinking critically in real-time. The intellectual satisfaction of crafting their own arguments and engaging with the AI tutor becomes far more rewarding than any tedious attempt to circumvent the system.

In essence, Symbai cultivates positive habits of mind by making critical thinking both accessible and enjoyable, rather than relying solely on surveillance to enforce academic integrity.

We understand that teachers are incredibly time-pressed, and the last thing you need is another tool that adds to your workload. That’s exactly why Symbai was designed to enhance and streamline activities you’re already doing, rather than create additional work.

Symbai enhances existing classroom activities:

• Class and small group discussions become more structured and engaging through debate trees
• Essay planning and brainstorming is built into the debate process – students automatically create organized notes
• Critical thinking exercises that you might do separately are integrated into one flowing activity

Time-efficient features that save you work:

• Quick content creation: Generate debate motions for any topic with a single click
• Instant differentiation: Adjust AI difficulty levels for different students without creating separate materials
• Real-time monitoring: See all student work on your dashboard instead of walking around checking individual progress
• Automatic structured notes: Students finish debates with organized argument trees that serve as essay outlines

The key benefit:

When students complete a Symbai debate, they walk away with comprehensive, structured notes (their debate trees) that would traditionally require separate mindmapping or essay planning activities. In essence, Symbai fuses discussion, critical thinking, note-taking, and essay preparation into one streamlined and engaging workflow.

Rather than adding another task to your lesson plan, Symbai replaces multiple separate activities with one integrated experience that achieves the same learning outcomes more effectively.