Stephen Lewarne Urges Universities to Revive Socratic Oral Exams in the AI Era

Stephen Lewarne, a professor of economics and finance at Franciscan University, has turned a growing higher education concern into a blunt assessment challenge: if generative AI can help produce polished work, universities need students to defend what they know in live dialogue. In a September 28, 2026 opinion essay, he argues that AI should push campuses toward judgment, reasoning and oral examination rather than a narrower crackdown on cheating.