American School of London - 1st October 2025

We covered a vast range of topics which were interestingly and unintentionally related from a philosophical perspective. Emotions and feelings were the linking themes, stretching from animals, to styles of music and whether we should be polite to Alexa. Initially, the popular viewpoint was that good manners are intrinsic to a pleasant atmosphere around the home, regardless of whether we are interacting with humans or not. However, as we discussed AI in more depth, the thought process shifted towards whether treating AI as if it was a human is damaging to society. Some students felt strongly that we should firmly differentiate between our interactions with humans and AI, and that perhaps giving AI a human name- Alexa- is in itself a bad idea. 

The skill of the week was to not raise your voice to get your point across, but to work on ensuring that you get your point across clearly, confidently and succinctly. Every pupil managed this well, although there certainly no quiet moments this week!

The group realised that defining terms: what do we mean by ‘good’ for example, is a really important step in structuring an argument. We will do more work on this in the forthcoming weeks.

In addition to a newsround we also discussed the government plan for digital IDs in the UK. Students had a variety of opinions on this matter, with some skilled debating held and strong points put forward. It was great to see the students so passionate about a topic which is so relevant today.