With AI tools now part of how many students do their work, the Institute needed a way to confirm that the arguments on the page are the students’ own. The AI interview was introduced as a way to assess essay comprehension, authorship, and the student’s ability to defend their ideas under questioning.
Why Did John Locke Introduce an AI Interview?
The John Locke Institute introduced the AI interview in response to a growing challenge faced by academic competitions: ensuring that submitted essays genuinely reflect a student’s own thinking and writing.
With the rapid advancement of AI tools such as ChatGPT and Claude, students now have access to technology that can assist with everything from topic research and idea generation to argument development, and, in some cases, even produce an entire essay. While AI can be a valuable learning tool when used appropriately, it also makes it increasingly difficult for judges to determine whether a submission represents a student’s original work.
To address this issue, the John Locke Institute added an AI interview for students who submitted the essay. Rather than serving as a debate or a test of memorization, the interview gives students an opportunity to explain the ideas behind their essay, discuss the sources they relied on, and describe the reasoning that shaped their arguments.
The underlying principle is simple: students who conducted their own research and developed their own arguments should be able to speak confidently and thoughtfully about their work. They can explain why they reached certain conclusions, how they evaluated evidence, and how their ideas evolved throughout the writing process. By contrast, students who relied heavily on AI-generated content or outsourced significant portions of their essay may struggle once the discussion moves beyond the essay’s written text and into the thinking behind it.
For participants, this changes what it means to prepare for the competition. In addition to writing a compelling essay, students must also be able to articulate and defend their ideas in conversation. Ultimately, the AI interview reinforces the competition’s long-standing emphasis on original thinking, intellectual curiosity, and genuine engagement with a topic.
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What Is the John Locke AI Interview Format?
Students who have already completed the interview described the John Locke AI interview as a short, structured conversation centered on the student’s submitted essay.
The interview typically lasts around 20 minutes and follows a conversational format rather than a formal oral examination. Students first receive a brief introduction that walks through the basics before the real conversation starts:
- The purpose of the interview and how it fits into the evaluation process
- What the AI interviewer expects from students and how to respond naturally
- Instructions for navigating the platform and moving through the session
After the introduction, students are asked a series of questions related to their essay, and the number of questions varies depending on how detailed each student’s responses are. Most students reported receiving 5–8 questions during the 20-minute interview. Some encountered more when the AI pursued additional follow-up questions based on initial answers.
Because the AI adjusts the conversation based on individual student responses, no fixed script or question count applies across all participants. This just means that two students writing on the same topic could walk away from noticeably different interviews.
What Questions Were Asked in the John Locke AI Interview?
Based on student accounts, the interview typically opens with questions regarding topic choice before moving into argument and reasoning. While questions varied depending on the subject of the essay, recurring themes appeared across these reports.
Why Did You Choose This Topic?
Many students identified this as the opening question, determining the thought process and motivation behind their essay topic.
Examples of variations included:
- “What topic did you choose?”
- “Why did you choose this question?”
- “Why is this subject matter important to you?”
Students noted that this question sets the direction of the rest of the interview, as the AI used their response to generate follow-up questions. In practice, this meant that a clear, specific answer early on tended to steer the conversation toward the strongest parts of a student’s argument.
Can You Explain Your Main Argument?
Another common area of questioning focused on the student’s thesis itself. Those who underwent the interview were asked to state their central argument and elaborate on the reasoning that supported it. From there, the AI often pushed further, asking students to describe how different points in their essay connected to one another and built toward a single conclusion.
Can You Elaborate or Provide Examples?
Many students reported that the AI frequently asked them to expand on their answers instead of merely accepting the first response at face value. Common follow-up questions included:
- “Could you elaborate on that?”
- “Can you provide an example?”
- “What does this mean?”
- “Why did you choose that approach?”
These follow-ups often did more to reveal a student’s actual grasp of the material than the first question, since a rehearsed answer tends to run out of substance once pressed for specifics.
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Why Does Your Argument Matter Today?
Some reports revealed broader questions that connected students’ essays to real-world issues. Depending on the topic, students were asked about:
- The relevance of their argument in today’s sociopolitical climate
- Real-world applications
- Broader social, philosophical, or ethical implications underneath their work
Students writing about philosophy, theology, or social issues were more likely to encounter this kind of question, since these topics naturally invite discussion beyond the essay’s literal wording.
Questions About Challenges, Limitations, or Alternative Perspectives
Some interviews are said to include questions that encouraged students to reflect critically on their own arguments instead of simply restating them repeatedly. Examples included:
- “What challenges did you face when developing your argument?”
- “What are the weaknesses of your position?”
- “What alternative perspectives exist according to your literature review?”
Students who could name the limitations of their own thesis and explain why they still found their position convincing tended to leave a stronger impression than those who treated the essay as beyond criticism.
What This Means for 2027 Applicants
The John Locke Institute clarified that the 2026 AI interview was primarily a pilot phase intended to test how the technology performed at scale before wider rollout. Looking ahead, interviews are expected to carry more weight in the assessment process starting in 2027.
For students preparing for upcoming John Locke Essay Competition cycles, the best preparation strategy remains focused on developing a deep understanding of their own work. Based on student experiences during the pilot phase, applicants in the next cycles should practice the following:
- Re-reading the essay closely: Before the interview, carefully review your introduction, thesis, main arguments, evidence, counterarguments, and conclusion. Students should build enough familiarity with their own ideas that they can explain them naturally, without reaching for the exact phrasing they used in the essay itself.
- Explaining it out loud. Writing an essay and discussing one require different skills, and the latter is more difficult to fake. Students should rehearse answering questions such as: Why this topic? What’s your main argument? Try explaining the core idea to someone with no background in the subject.
- Preparing for “why” questions specifically. Strong responses go beyond simply what is written in the essay. Students should be ready to walk the interviewer through the reasoning behind each point of argument.
- Study your essay’s context, not just its content: Understanding the broader conversation around your topic protects against a common failure: getting caught off guard by a question that moves slightly beyond the essay’s literal scope. Know why the issue matters today, what other perspectives exist, and what the strongest objections to your own argument would be.
- Treat a mock interview as part of essay preparation. Since the format rewards spontaneous explanation, the closest practice available is having someone unfamiliar with the essay ask pointed follow-up questions and push for clarification. This mirrors the AI’s own pattern of probing weak or vague answers until a student either sharpens the response or runs out of substance.
Prepare for the John Locke Competition with Aralia Education
Aralia’s John Locke preparation course is built around the change toward a two-part evaluation. In this course, students receive a structured path from guided analysis of primary and secondary sources through the development of an original, compelling thesis, followed by direct practice defending that thesis under questioning.
Students will learn how to evaluate complex philosophical and political ideas, structure arguments properly in the written form, and hold up under the kind of scrutiny the AI interview is designed to apply. They will be taught by top-rated instructors and coaches with a proven track record of guiding past applicants to Grand Prizes and other top placements in this competition.
Aralia’s students have consistently excelled in this prestigious competition, achieving Grand Prizes, Third Prizes, and High Commendations.
John Locke Essay Competition Prep
In the John Locke Essay Competition Prep course, students will learn the ins and outs of essay writing, in preparation for entering the competition. We offer prep classes in all categories. Students will choose one topic, compose an original thesis and argument, and write an essay for submission. Students will engage in a guided analysis of primary and secondary sources, develop critical thinking skills, and discover interesting insights. In addition to the group classes, students will receive guidance on their individual projects from the instructor through one-on-one sessions.
