This AI Literacy Review covers a UK initiative to train 7.5 million workers in AI, Microsoft’s AI literacy course for Finland, AI literacy measurement challenges, AI literacy and older adults, how organizations are pushing employees and job candidates to use AI, upskilling tips, American Library Association’s AI literacy newsletter course, books on AI and libraries, AI toolkit for school districts, Ohio State University’s AI fluency training mandate for undergrads, University System of Georgia’s Student Guide to Generative AI literacy, AI literacy lessons for high school English classes, and AI literacy via Google for Australian students and teachers.
General
In Workers in UK need to embrace AI or risk being left behind, minister says, The Guardian reports on a new government-industry initiative to train 7.5 million workers in AI by 2030 through short training of 2.5 hours.
Microsoft releases a free AI literacy fundamentals course for Finland in partnership with Finnish institutions to teach basic AI concepts and responsible use to the workforce.
Bloomberg reports that some Canadians are concerned about the recent global study showing Canada ranking 44th out of 47 countries on AI literacy and training.
Digital equity social enterprise Human-I-T launches a free AI 101 course for any worker interested in learning about how to use AI for workplace tasks.
In AI literacy: Why every teen needs to learn this essential skill, the American Psychological Association stresses the psychological and societal importance of AI literacy among teens, warning of misinformation and manipulation risks.
In AI literacy: What it is, what it isn’t, who needs it and why it’s hard to define university researchers Daniel S. Schiff, Arne Bewersdorff, and Marie Hornberger explore the topic of AI literacy, the limitations of asking people to self-report their skills, and the need for reliable tests to track progress across ages and communities.
In “We need to avail ourselves of GenAI to enhance knowledge distribution”: Empowering Older Adults through GenAI Literacy, Eunhye Grace Ko, Shaini Nanayakkara, and Earl W. Huff Jr examine strategies for promoting Gen. AI literacy to older adults through a chatbot, and the limitations in terms of trust and safety.
Organizations
The Washington Post article No AI, no job. These companies are requiring workers to use the tech. discusses how firms like Shopify and Duolingo now require employees to use AI for tasks and speed up their productivity.
Zapier recruiter Bonnie Dilber shares on LinkedIn how the company is assessing AI fluency and mapping skills of job candidates across 4 levels: Unacceptable, Capable, Adoptive, and Transformative.
The Business Insider article This Big Four firm hopes AI will relieve the drudgery and stress of accounting covers how consulting firm EY is investing $1 billion to address an accounting workforce shortage and train college graduates into AI to speed up tedious audits and improve accuracy.
The Rochester Business Journal article How to upskill your workforce for AI success shares principles for effectively conducting worker training and upskilling, including doing a gap analysis and integrating AI training into broader strategic efforts.
How To Build AI Literacy: 16 Ways To Stay Relevant As A Professional in Forbes offers a practical list of how professionals can build confidence with AI and stay up-to-date, including understanding how tech trends intersect with their industry and making learning a continuing professional development (CPD) priority.
In Artificial intelligence 101: Building literacy with the AI-ABCs framework [paywalled], Mahrokh M. Kobeissi, Diane M. Santa Maria, and Jung In Park introduce their AI‑ABCs framework for building foundational AI literacy in healthcare and education settings: A—AI-Basics, B—Benefits and Challenges of AI, and C—Core Components and Terminologies in AI.
Tech software company Grammarly commissions a study finding that 44% of workers hate repetitive aspects of their job and 62% have tasks they’d like to use AI for, but most companies lack a clear AI policy and don’t seem willing to embrace AI tools.
Libraries
The American Library Association (ALA) and Clarivate launch a free 8-week AI newsletter-based course called Generative AI Literacy Essentials for Academic Librarians to support librarians in developing AI competencies, integrating AI into reference services, and teaching.
Elissa Malespina publishes the book AI in the Library: Strategies, Tools and Ethics for Today’s Schools [Amazon affiliate link] as a roadmap to integrating AI into teaching and learning as well as library programming, including lesson ideas and activities for students (grades 6-12) and educator-friendly prompts.
Michael Hanegan and Chris Rosser publish the book Generative AI and Libraries: Claiming Our Place in the Center of a Shared Future which provides guidance and models for how libraries can lead the integration of AI in ethical and effective ways.
In Mapping AI Literacy Among Library Professionals: A Cross-Regional Study of South Asia and the Middle East, Zakir Hossain posts a dataset of a survey of AI literacy of over 300 library professionals showing competencies across different domains.
The University of North Carolina’s Carolina AI Literacy Initiative – a partnership between the library and humanities – offers support materials on AI basics such as prompts and fact-checking for students and instructors in higher education.
Education
Common Sense Media’s AI Toolkit for School Districts helps K-12 schools implement AI in a way that is safe, responsible, and effective, and it includes templates, guides, and resources for different stages of AI adoption.
In Generative AI in Higher Education: Demographic Differences in Student Perceived Readiness, Benefits, and Challenges, Daniel Maxwell, Beth Oyarzun, Stella Kim, and Ji Yae Bong present research on how Gen. AI tools are being widely used by students, and reiterate that there is a pressing need to integrate AI literacy into curricula and equip students with technical, ethical, and critical skills for responsible AI use.
Ohio State University mandates all undergraduates complete AI fluency training, which will be embedded across disciplines with the goal of having every graduate be fluent in AI and know how to apply AI to advance their field of study.
The University System of Georgia’s Student Guide to Generative AI literacy is published under a Creative Commons license and designed for students to develop Gen. AI literacy and avoid misusing AI tools in academic settings.
Charlotte‑Mecklenburg Schools is exploring how public school systems can use AI responsibly for learning by asking 10,000 respondents about its AI vision, and it is requiring staff to complete training on cybersecurity issues around student data and AI.
The AI Education Project (aiEDU) and The Rithm Project launch free AI literacy lessons for high school English Language Arts (ELA) classes under a Creative Commons license. The lessons focus on the theme of human connection in a world impacted by AI and include storytelling and reflection.
Washburn University’s AI literacy and application certificate was designed by the computer science and philosophy faculties, making it an interdisciplinary program that includes hands-on work and critical engagement about ethical issues with no prior coding experience necessary.
The University of New South Wales and charity Day of AI Australia have received funding from Google to offer a free AI literacy program for students and teachers across Australia with the goal of giving students the knowledge and confidence for an AI-powered future.
