AI as a Driver of Inclusive Teaching

It is often said that artificial intelligence must not be viewed as an alternative to human intelligence, but as a way to make time-consuming, energy-intensive tasks easier. In this role, AI can also become a powerful driver of inclusivity. This is exactly what happened during the History of Economics class taught by Marco Molteni, Assistant Professor at the University of Turin and Adjunct Professor at Bocconi. Molteni uses LLMs to create a safe space in which all of his students, regardless of their timidity or knowledge of AI, are able to engage with and productively respond to instructional prompts without feeling discriminated against in any way.

The Safe Space

“I came up with the idea in response to a series of needs,” explains Marco Molteni. “On the one hand, I had to boost my productivity teaching Gen Z students, whom I have noticed prefer teaching materials that are as personalized as possible. On the other, having been educated in the UK — where there is a heavy emphasis on students’ mental wellbeing — I wanted my classes to view working together as an opportunity for exchange.”

And it is here where AI comes into play. Molteni’s project has implemented a “reinforced teaching in a safe space” methodology, incorporating generative AI as a catalyst to improve both teaching productivity and students’ critical thinking skills. “The main idea is that professors openly use LLMs, announcing it to students,” says Molteni. “This goes hand-in-hand with building a strong relationship between professor and student, emphasizing that the classroom is a safe environment in which one can develop logical reasoning instead of simply absorbing information.” Thanks to the use of anonymous surveys handled by AI, for example, it is possible to receive and process large quantities of feedback from students, allowing even the shyest among them to be proactive in class.

LLMs and “Impossible Tasks”

However, the high level of transparency regarding the use of AI that Molteni has maintained from the very beginning has also required a great deal of effort to explain how LLMs work. As he did with undergraduate Business Administration and Management (CLEAM) students, Molteni explains that “the exercises are designed to teach them how to carry out quick yet thorough research on economics history using LLMs.” He continues, “One example of the ‘impossible tasks’ asked of students is to write a summary of the entire history of economics in two hours. Such a task is, in fact, impossible without

the use of AI but it is for this exact reason that it forces students to compare the findings of various LLMs and to notice the ‘hallucinations’ that the models can generate.”

So, in the economics history class taught by Molteni — whose teaching project was commended at the last Bocconi Teaching Awards — AI plays a role at multiple levels and in various ways.

Martina and Giuseppe

“I have used ChatGPT before, but I was not aware of other models such as Claude,” explains Martina Monte, 21-year-old CLEAM student. “Through this experience, I have improved my ability to craft prompts and have learned how to incorporate AI into my tasks rather than letting it replace me. We often judge AI as something that slows down our cognitive ability, but that is not the case. We should remember that it is a tool created by humans, for humans.”

Giuseppe Spina is a 21-year-old International Economics and Finance (BIEF) student in his last semester, and he agrees with her. “We economists are not trained computer scientists, yet we need to be familiar with the right programming tools to process large volumes of data,” he says. “In this sense, artificial intelligence greatly lowers barriers to access. Prof. Molteni has succeeded in creating a level of connection and dialogue with the class that I have never experienced before, especially in a university classroom with over 100 students.”

And just like that — between prompts, doubts and discussion — artificial intelligence is no longer considered a shortcut, and becomes part of a new way to learn together. It is a tool that, if used thoughtfully and transparently, can transform teaching into a more inclusive and engaging experience capable of fostering what really matters: students’ ability to critically think.