About the creator
Dr. Chase Cookson
Helping people use AI as a tool for better thinking—not a substitute for it.
Background
Dr. Chase Cookson is an educator, consultant, and advocate for thoughtful, learning-centered uses of artificial intelligence. His work has centered around teaching, faculty development, leadership development, assessment, academic quality, accreditation, ethical decision-making, and organizational responsibility. His encounters with AI-produced student work as an instructor led him to realize that students and faculty alike were missing a model that could help guide their thinking and choices related to AI use.
Why RAFT
He created the RAFT Framework from a belief that AI can substantially expand human potential... but only when people remain actively responsible for the thinking. Used well, AI can help learners explore difficult questions, encounter new perspectives, strengthen arguments, and improve their work. Used as a substitute for effort, judgment, and reflection, it can gradually weaken the very abilities education is meant to develop: curiosity, intellectual independence, critical thinking, and the confidence to solve problems without automated assistance.
Cookson’s interest in frameworks such as RAFT grows from years of helping educators and institutions translate broad values into practical decisions. He believes responsible AI guidance must do more than warn people about misconduct. It should give students, educators, and organizations a memorable process for deciding when AI adds value, when it introduces risk, and when the most important work must remain human.
The continuing question
His broader academic and professional work has included quality management, process and workflow automation, business ethics, training and development, leadership development, assessment, program design and evaluation, course design, institutional effectiveness, and accreditation and regulatory compliance.
As he has engaged in each of these areas of work, a question emerged that has only grown in importance as technology's role in our lives has increased: How can powerful systems be designed to improve human capability without diminishing human agency?Explore the RAFT framework