Strategy & closing · Advanced · About 6 min
Weigh competing consequences
Weigh size, severity and likelihood
Both sides · RebuttalRead the case: AI and the future of work
Resolution Advanced AI will on net improve outcomes for workers
a two-year review of 30 employers records 300 retained workers receiving 4% higher inflation-adjusted pay and working 37 rather than 40 hours per week after AI adoption.
- Sixty entry-level roles were removed and 40 technical roles added.
- Of the 60 displaced workers, 18 entered the new roles, 24 found work elsewhere at 8% lower pay, and 18 were still unemployed six months later.
- The other 22 new roles went to different applicants.
- The review does not isolate AI from every other change or forecast the whole economy.
The affirmative argues that productive tools can improve pay and time for many workers. The negative argues that concentrated losses and barriers to new work can outweigh those gains.
Weighing is how you tell the audience which consequences should decide the debate. Look at how big each one is, how likely, how soon, how long it lasts and who it falls on. Use the measures that actually separate the two sides.
Numbers help when the units and assumptions are sound. They mislead when you treat different outcomes as equal or invent a precise-looking probability. Explain the judgment the numbers cannot make on their own.
Explore an example before trying
Scale favors the affirmative, but it still has to answer the severity of individual losses.
Severity favors the negative, but it still has to face how large and lasting the gains are.
The review records these outcomes, but does not isolate every cause or forecast the whole economy. Both sides need a reason for extending their pattern.
State the effects
Keep the group, the measure and the time period attached.
Compare on one measure
Explain how size, severity, timing or likelihood favors you.
Beat their weighing
Answer the best reason to weigh it their way.
Your response
Negative · RebuttalDevelop a negative impact comparison using two dimensions. Answer the affirmative’s strongest scale argument and state a condition that would weaken your case.
Read the case: AI and the future of work
Resolution Advanced AI will on net improve outcomes for workers
a two-year review of 30 employers records 300 retained workers receiving 4% higher inflation-adjusted pay and working 37 rather than 40 hours per week after AI adoption.
- Sixty entry-level roles were removed and 40 technical roles added.
- Of the 60 displaced workers, 18 entered the new roles, 24 found work elsewhere at 8% lower pay, and 18 were still unemployed six months later.
- The other 22 new roles went to different applicants.
- The review does not isolate AI from every other change or forecast the whole economy.
The affirmative argues that productive tools can improve pay and time for many workers. The negative argues that concentrated losses and barriers to new work can outweigh those gains.
You can type or use your keyboard’s microphone to dictate. Your text stays editable. Practice is optional.
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Our priority is… Their scale argument… We weigh… Our case weakens if…
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The same record supports competing weights
Resolution Advanced AI will on net improve outcomes for workers
a two-year review of 30 employers records 300 retained workers receiving 4% higher inflation-adjusted pay and working 37 rather than 40 hours per week after AI adoption.
- Sixty entry-level roles were removed and 40 technical roles added.
- Of the 60 displaced workers, 18 entered the new roles, 24 found work elsewhere at 8% lower pay, and 18 were still unemployed six months later.
- The other 22 new roles went to different applicants.
- The review does not isolate AI from every other change or forecast the whole economy.
The affirmative argues that productive tools can improve pay and time for many workers. The negative argues that concentrated losses and barriers to new work can outweigh those gains.
- Affirmative on scale
The gains reach 300 retained workers and recur in their weekly time and pay. That breadth and repetition support an overall benefit.
Scale favors the affirmative, but it still has to answer the severity of individual losses.
- Negative on severity
Eighteen remain unemployed and 24 earn less elsewhere. Loss of work or income can carry more weight per person than a smaller gain to someone securely employed.
Severity favors the negative, but it still has to face how large and lasting the gains are.
- Confidence and reach
The review records these outcomes, but does not isolate every cause or forecast the whole economy. Both sides need a reason for extending their pattern.
Hold both predictions to the same standard of proof.
Show your reason for weighing it your way, including what it depends on.
Test the reasoning
Read the practice case
Resolution Advanced AI will on net improve outcomes for workers
a two-year review of 30 employers records 300 retained workers receiving 4% higher inflation-adjusted pay and working 37 rather than 40 hours per week after AI adoption.
- Sixty entry-level roles were removed and 40 technical roles added.
- Of the 60 displaced workers, 18 entered the new roles, 24 found work elsewhere at 8% lower pay, and 18 were still unemployed six months later.
- The other 22 new roles went to different applicants.
- The review does not isolate AI from every other change or forecast the whole economy.
The affirmative argues that productive tools can improve pay and time for many workers. The negative argues that concentrated losses and barriers to new work can outweigh those gains.
Review and continue
Resolution Advanced AI will on net improve outcomes for workers
Read the practice task and case
Develop a negative impact comparison using two dimensions. Answer the affirmative’s strongest scale argument and state a condition that would weaken your case.
a two-year review of 30 employers records 300 retained workers receiving 4% higher inflation-adjusted pay and working 37 rather than 40 hours per week after AI adoption.
- Sixty entry-level roles were removed and 40 technical roles added.
- Of the 60 displaced workers, 18 entered the new roles, 24 found work elsewhere at 8% lower pay, and 18 were still unemployed six months later.
- The other 22 new roles went to different applicants.
- The review does not isolate AI from every other change or forecast the whole economy.
The affirmative argues that productive tools can improve pay and time for many workers. The negative argues that concentrated losses and barriers to new work can outweigh those gains.
Your response
You can return to the practice whenever you want.
One model response
The affirmative has scale: 300 retained workers gained pay and time. We prioritize severity and duration because 18 displaced workers lacked employment at six months and 24 took lower pay. Those losses can threaten a whole income, so treating every affected person as an equal unit understates them. Our comparison weakens if later evidence shows rapid transitions to comparable work; it strengthens if the losses persist. We also need a reason to expect this pattern beyond the review.
These explain the negative’s preferred weight.
The response explains why scale alone may not decide the comparison.
Later evidence could reduce the duration and severity of loss.
The response makes a reasoned negative comparison, answers the rival dimension and names the evidence that would change its weight. It does not use a formula to hide unlike outcomes.
Review the performance
- ArgumentsI compare substantive consequences using relevant dimensions.
- EvidenceI meet the strongest rival comparison.
- PersuasionI explain the confidence or condition my judgment depends on.
Choose one move to improve, revise your response, then try it aloud.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Throwing out a big number without saying what it measures or why it matters.
- Treating one short-term result as a guaranteed effect on the whole economy.
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