Flipping the Script: AI That Asks Questions Instead of Giving Answers

Most people think AI in education means AI that answers questions.

What if we flipped the script?

What if the AI asked the questions instead?

Imagine an AI that acts like a little sibling—curious, persistent, and forcing you to explain things simply. If you can’t explain a concept to a younger person, you probably don’t understand it well enough yourself. That’s the Feynman technique. And AI can play that role perfectly.

Or imagine “AI Critique”—you write something, and the AI challenges your reasoning. Not gently. It forces you to defend your logic, find holes in your argument, strengthen your thinking. The goal isn’t to get the right answer from AI—it’s to sharpen your own thinking by engaging with it.

All of these will connect to a custom teacher dashboard where teachers can “nudge” the AI in real-time or “seed” it with future topics. A teacher notices a student is almost ready for fractions? They seed that into the AI’s conversation pattern. A student is struggling with a concept? The teacher nudges the AI to scaffold differently.

This is the kind of AI we’re building at Tradewinds. Not AI that makes learning easier—AI that makes students think harder.