AI-powered innovation platform will restore critical thinking at the heart of business education
AN AI-powered educational app designed to encourage students to think for themselves by acting as a ‘mentor’ will tackle a rise in over-reliance on AI that university lecturers fear is harming their development.
Supervate has been developed by London and Salisbury design studio Innovate Design in conjunction with senior figures at the City of Birmingham and Warwick universities. It is designed for universities, further education colleges and sixth forms but will also be developed to aid inventors and entrepreneurs.
The desktop app has been developed through close co-operation with business and innovation lecturers. App users learn how to creatively explore innovative ideas by moving through cycles of idea generation, customer problem exploration, solution design, virtual prototyping and testing. The platform encourages iteration by enabling learners to discover how to innovate through the repeated practice and feedback.
Users can explore ideas by using ideas spaces that can be continually challenged and developed through sections that challenge them to consider their idea and any potential problems it might cause; solutions it is providing to existing problems, prospective customers, existing alternatives and commercial viability.
At each stage the AI can generate its own ideas and suggestions, which can be incorporated into the design or act as a springboard for users to generate their own, even better, ideas.
“Supervate is making the most effective use of AI, which is that it can help you have your best ideas,” said Co-Managing Director Alastair Swanwick, whose company has more than 25 years of experience in supporting inventors and designers through research, design and intellectual property research.
“It’s a great assistant but it’s avoiding the situation where the student is just putting a question into Chat GPT and copying and pasting the answer without understanding or even properly reading the answer.
“The AI acts as a co-pilot, as both a creative partner and an organisational tool – sometimes it offers ideas that are just ‘okay,’ but these spark improvements and help shape stronger concepts. By helping to organise thoughts, highlight gaps, and prompt fresh angles, AI accelerates the journey from scattered possibilities to well-formed solutions. Over time, this loop of ideation, validation, and refinement equips the next generation of entrepreneurs with the skills and mindset to innovate confidently and effectively.”
A study by MIT in the United States found ChatGPT users showed lower brain engagement than peers who did their own research and “consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioural levels.” Over the course of the study ChatGPT users got lazier with each subsequent essay, often resorting to copy-and-paste.
It underpins the sentiments expressed to Innovate Co-MD James McInerny in conversation with lecturers at Warwick, where the company created the product design module for its Innovation and Entrepreneurship Masters course.
“I was talking to them about how we are concerned about many resumes we get from job applicants that are badly written by Chat GPT and they told us about the problem they have with students submitting whole essays they have cut and pasted, and their worries about a decline in critical thinking,” he said.
“When I began to think about the app I shared the idea with them and they were really keen. Over the last year we’ve worked closely with them to develop it and they are excited about using it because they can see the benefits.”
Supervate will be launched at the International Entrepreneurship Educators Conference in Manchester on September 10-12. Mr McInerny will present it alongside Dr Matt Draycott, Associate Professor in Entrepreneurship at the City of Birmingham University.
Dr Draycott said: “Supervate is an AI platform designed to help anyone create more feasible and more impactful business ideas. Having used the platform since inception and watched it develop, I have been impressed with both their application of AI and their use of business and design theory to underpin the platforms processes.
“That said, the best thing about Supervate is that it puts you in the driving seat with the AI supporting as a critical friend, rather than replacing your own actions and activities, and this makes it an ideal tool, especially for educators.”
IEEC Chair Colin Rigby said of the app: “This is a timely topic that tackles a key challenge in enterprise education: how to use generative AI without letting it replace critical thinking and creativity.
“The Supervate platform sounds like a thoughtful response to this, offering structured support that still keeps students actively engaged. The collaboration between universities and industry adds strength, and the focus on real-world application is a definite plus.”
Find out more about the app at supervate.ai.
