When Socrates Meets AI: Rethinking Disinformation

What happens when ancient philosophy meets artificial intelligence? Giannis Stamatellos’ paper, Socratic Methodologies and Artificial Intelligence against Disinformation: A Philosophical Approach in 'The International Journal of the Platonic Tradition', offers a refreshing answer.

When Socrates Meets AI

At a time when misinformation spreads faster than truth, this short but profound essay argues that we may need to return to one of the oldest tools in human reasoning - the Socratic method - to guide how we design, use, and understand AI.

Rather than seeing AI as a weapon against disinformation, Stamatellos suggests we treat it as a partner in questioning, an aid in dialogue, reflection, and self-examination. The Socratic method, built on disciplined inquiry and open-ended questioning, becomes a model for developing AI systems that strengthen critical thinking instead of simply filtering content.

The Socrates meets AI paper invites philosophers, technologists, educators, and policymakers alike to reconsider:

What would it mean for AI not just to detect falsehoods, but to teach us how to think better?

In just a few pages, Stamatellos blends classical thought with contemporary AI ethics, a must-read for anyone exploring disinformation, trustworthy AI, or digital literacy.

Take a few minutes to read it, it might just change how you think about truth in the age of algorithms.

Read the paper on Brill