Sway is an educational group chat platform developed by Carnegie Mellon University researchers to facilitate constructive disagreement on campus and in classes. It’s inspired by J.S. Mill’s radical view that engaging with opposing perspectives is the best tool for improving reasoning and solving complex problems.

Each Sway chat connects students with different viewpoints and includes an AI facilitator named Guide. Guide fosters better reasoning and mutual understanding by clarifying arguments, de-escalating tense moments, ensuring students aren’t talking past each other, and posing questions to deepen conversations. The platform also uses AI to provide suggestions that help students express themselves more productively. It’s designed to give students a safe, respectful, and intellectually charitable space for discussions of polarizing topics without fear of retaliation.

Sway is funded by research grants. It can be used in college-level courses, orientation programs, residential community dialogues, student government activities, and more.

Our long-term aim is to empower millions of college students to cultivate the intellectual and character virtues of humility, cognitive empathy, critical thinking, and constructive disagreement.