Before they even walk into class, students in Professor Dan Wang's courses get into a debate. They stake out their position and try to change their opponent’s mind with evidence. Their opponent tries to poke holes in weak points and raises tough counterarguments. Like any debate, there's no time to polish an answer, so students have to think on their feet.

That opponent is CAiSEY, a voice-based AI platform developed by Wang, Lambert Family Professor of Business, with Jill Cohen ’20 and Johnny Lee ’20.

CAiSEY is one of many ways Columbia Business School brings AI-enhanced learning into focus. Students can also sign up for courses like Vibe Coding and Leadership Intelligence in the AI Era, which give them different ways to put AI to work. 

With a robust catalog of more than 25 courses and growing, CBS encourages students to discover new pathways with AI, recognize where it may fall short, and develop skills that will carry them outside the classroom.

Helping students find their voice

From approaching course material and discussions to brainstorming and exploring new concepts, there are countless cognitive processes that are slowly honed and enhanced thanks to AI.

CAiSEY, the AI learning platform where students engage in structured debates and hold conversations with an AI adversary, active discussions and  grounded, cohesive, and well-researched arguments come naturally. CAiSEY, by design, challenges the student, forcing them to reflect, modify, and adapt on the spot. These are skills that traditional homework assignments confined to dense readings and papers, sometimes struggle to nurture. 

That’s because conversation with CAiSEY occurs in real-time and, therefore, is often messier, more repetitive, and less concise. But it is precisely this messiness that is an invaluable part of learning. A study co-authored by Wang and postdoctoral researcher Neelam Jain found that voice engagement allows students to encounter, connect, and complicate a much more diverse set of ideas.

In the years since CAiSEY’s development, Wang and his students have witnessed overwhelmingly positive results in the classroom. Students report feeling that absorbing course material, preparing for class, and contributing to a rich, diverse discussion has become much easier. 

Managing the machines

Beyond class discussion, AI changes how software gets built. That's where vibe coding comes in.

The School’s Vibe Coding course, led by Professor Mattan Griffel teaches students how to efficiently interact with and manage AI agents to build software. The course is run as a lab, allowing students to sharpen their skills through steady repetition. Without any technical knowledge, they are now able to build applications and platforms just by assigning specific tasks to agents. Still, the need for management skills remains.

“The key skill here really is management,” Griffel says. Vibe coding, he adds, is “bringing out a new form of management and leadership in most organizations” — one that gives companies “superpowers to build products and technology where before they didn't have the resources to do that.”

Students walk away from the course not only with a mastery of vibe coding, but also with time-saving applications created in class. Whether they want to build demanding new software or simply block ads on a website, vibe coding shows how AI can make student life more productive and education more accessible, inside the classroom and out.

AI skills change fast, and that speed brings real opportunity and real risk. AI, as evidenced by the benefits of CAiSEY and vibe coding, can lead to increased efficiency, engagement, and discovery. However, without careful judgement and analysis, AI can quickly become more work than it’s worth. At CBS students are taught to approach this new technology with a driven and critical eye. 

Leadership Intelligence in the AI Era, a course evolving alongside AI itself, is just one example of how CBS is helping students navigate AI precisely and responsibly. The course, co-taught by Oded Netzer, the Arthur J. Samberg Professor of Business, Christopher Frank, and Paul Magnone, teaches students how to channel statistical clutter and foggy signals into the process of decision-making. These skills, vital in leadership positions in particular, are also employed on a daily basis. Knowing how to evaluate and recognize the limitations, biases, and restrictions of an application, person, or situation, helps foster a safer world.

Whether a student is vibe-coding or positioning themselves in a debate with CAiSEY, the most important tool in the room is still their own judgment.