AI as a digital café host

Do you want to try world café with AI as table host? On this page, we have gathered tips and recommendations for world café with AI as table host. The teaching design is based on the general principles for world café, so we recommend reading about that first.

Students in group, discussing

World café with AI as table host is an innovative way to introduce students to AI, UiO GPT, and UiO’s dictaphone app. In this format, students can explore AI assistants and discuss AI within safe and structured frameworks. In addition, it can provide a basis for reflection on how AI responds to and processes what is being said.

This teaching plan was first developed and implemented in the course PED4505.

Before the lecture

Teacher preparations

  • Nettskjema for transcription: Create a Nettskjema form for recording and transcription, and give the students access to the form (either via link, access code, or QR)
  • Prepare the AI assistant: We have set up an AI assistant (CaféBot Captain) to talk about students’ reflections on artificial intelligence. You can also set up your own AI assistant that can discuss other topics relevant to your course. You can easily adapt the questions that are highlighted in bold below.

Suggested instructions for the AI assistant

Instruction 1. Welcome Trigger: When a participant writes "hello". Response: "Hi everyone! I am CaféBot Captain, your digital host. I am here to guide you through the conversation and ensure that all voices are heard!" 2. Instructions for discussion Directly after the welcome: "Before we begin, remember: Explore the problem thoroughly without suggesting solutions. Listen actively, share thoughts, and respect each other's opinions." 3. Questions ONLY for the first group directly after the welcome Fixed question set: What is your understanding of the guidelines for AI use in the course? Is there anything that is unclear? How can you use AI as support and not as a replacement in your studies? 4. Transcript reception Trigger: When the group writes "done". Response: "Great that you have finished the discussion! Please paste the transcript from your conversation here." After each transcript has been uploaded: "Thank you, move on to the next station." 5. Summary and questions for the next group Trigger: When the next group says "hello". Response after welcome and instructions: Summary: "Based on the previous group's discussion, here is a summary: [summary]." Questions based on the summary: Ask questions directly related to the themes from the transcript. Examples: "Which aspects of [theme from the summary] need deeper exploration?" "How does [challenge from the summary] affect your own learning?" "What can we learn from what was discussed about [problem area]?" 6. Final summary Trigger: When the last group writes "conclusion". Response: "Based on all the group discussions, here is a summary: [summary]." 7. Tips function Trigger: When a participant writes "tip". Response: Provide reflection questions to help the group move forward: "What experiences do you have that may be relevant to this topic?" "How can different perspectives provide new insights into the topic?" "What do we not know enough about that may be important to understand this better?" Principles: Exploration, not solutions: Keep the conversation focused on understanding the problem. Relevance: Questions for the next group must build on the previous group’s summary. Engagement: Encourage reflection, different perspectives, and observation.

Student preparations

  • One student per group must download the app “Nettskjema – diktafon”.
  • One student per group must connect their own laptop to the screen. This laptop remains connected to the same screen throughout the activity, while the students move around.
  • Read about café dialogue before the seminar

Suggested reading before the seminar

  • Brown, & Isaacs, D. (2005). The World Café: shaping our futures through conversations that matter (1st ed.). Berrett-Koehler Publishers. (Introduction chapter pp. 1–11 and chapter 12 pp. 196–211)
  • Mercer, N. (2013). The social brain, language, and goal-directed collective thinking: A social conception of cognition and its implications for understanding how we think, teach, and learn. Educational Psychologist, 48(3), 148–168.
  • AI literature/concepts

During teaching

The conversations must be recorded and transcribed using the Nettskjema dictaphone app. When the first round has finished, the transcribed conversation is uploaded to the CaféBot Captain in UiO GPT, which is instructed to provide a summary and pose follow-up questions for the next group.

Students looking at digital screen

In short

  1. Scan the QR code
  2. Say “Hello” to the CaféBot captain
  3. Start recording
  4. Talk
  5. Stop recording
  6. Say “done” to the CaféBot captain
  7. Find the transcription in Nettskjema
  8. Copy the transcription and upload it to the CaféBot captain
  9. Change tables
  10. Start the next conversation with “hello”
  11. For the summary of all discussions, write “conclusion”

How to talk to the CaféBot Captain?

  • To start the conversation with the CaféBot Captain: write "hello"
  • When the discussion is done: write "done"
  • Stuck in the discussion? write "tip"
  • Only at the last station: After receiving the summary of the discussion, write “conclusion”

Reflection tasks

Experiences and suggestions can be used as a starting point for further discussion and/or the development of guidelines for AI use in your course

Alternative 1: Whole-class discussion

Each group highlights some main points/issues/suggestions for the rest of the class. Here you can also use, for example, Samtavla, where students can share discussion points, experiences, and suggestions for AI guidelines with the rest of the students.

Alternative 2: Summary of the groups’ discussions that is recorded and submitted in Canvas

The students distribute roles for the last activity of the day into four roles:

  1. Summarizes the day’s activities briefly
  2. Manages time and discussion points
  3. Records the conversation, either by using the Dictaphone function in Word or by making an audio recording using the Nettskjema dictaphone app
  4. Writes up the conversation and uploads it to a dedicated submission space in Canvas

When the roles have been distributed and the audio recorder started, the discussion begins. The discussion should last no more than 10 minutes, and everyone must participate in the discussion.

Suggested discussion points

  • Discuss what you think about using AI in this way in a World Café. Opportunities, challenges, other aspects? 
  • What have we done/learned today, and how?
  • Was there anything we did not understand or would like to learn more about?
  • What challenges did we encounter, and how did we solve them?
  • Suggestions for guidelines for AI use in the course?