As generative AI becomes embedded in research, writing and classroom practices, students are increasingly rewarded for asking questions that are direct, efficient and easily answered by machines. Although this shift may enhance productivity, it also risks diminishing the kind of open-ended, ambiguous questions that cultivate critical thinking, creativity and intellectual resilience. 

In this webinar, Dr. Victoria Livingstone (Johns Hopkins University) and Jeppe Klitgaard Stricker (Aalborg University) draw on their influential UNESCO article, The Disappearance of the Unclear Question, to explore how the rise of AI is reshaping inquiry and what educators can do to safeguard the deeper forms of learning that depend on uncertainty, struggle, and reflection. The session also highlights strategies for integrating AI in ways that support — rather than replace — the essential processes of questioning and discovery.

Key takeaways

• The role of ambiguity in learning: Why friction and uncertainty remain essential to deep intellectual engagement
• Shifts in student inquiry: How AI is moving student habits from asking questions to generating prompts
• Asking vs. prompting: Understanding the pedagogical difference between inquiry and command-based interaction
• Reclaiming intellectual friction: Teaching approaches that foster critical thinking
• Rethinking assessment: Reflections on how AI forces us to reevaluate old models — and why that may be a good thing