This AI Literacy Review covers Microsoft’s Global AI Adoption in 2025: A Widening Digital Divide and Copilot Usage Report 2025, FedEx’s AI literacy program, Sundance Institute’s AI Literacy Initiative for filmmakers, OpenAI’s courses for workers and teachers, Safe AI For Children Alliance’s AI Risks to Children, AI literacy for teens and families, professional AI fluency as an alternative to AI literacy, UK Government’s report AI Skills for Life and Work and AI foundations training for adults, Australian Government’s National AI Plan to support and train workers, AI literacy in government innovation, AI literacy for court professionals and librarians, Finland adding AI literacy to national curriculum, UAE implementing AI literacy in schools, China’s approaches to compulsory AI classes, reports on the AI challenge in education, LEGO Education’s curriculum for computer science and AI, Anthropic’s AI Literacy & Creator Collective, universities requiring AI literacy for every student, AI courses in education, promotion of AI literacy, studies of AI literacy programs for university students, and more!
General
The Microsoft AI Economy Institute report Global AI Adoption in 2025: A Widening Digital Divide finds that AI adoption in the Global North grew almost twice as fast as in the Global South, and that countries that invested early in infrastructure, skilling, and government adoption–such as UAE and Singapore–are leading.
FedEx launches a company-wide AI education and literacy program to build AI fluency and skills, and partners with Accenture for customized AI education and live training sessions to drive AI adoption.
McKinsey’s Redefine AI upskilling as a change imperative by Vincent Bérubé et al. explores the dimensions of AI upskilling and reskilling and how training by itself may not change behaviors in the workplace.
In Centering the Artist: Why We’re Launching the AI Literacy Initiative Michelle Satter announces the launch of the Sundance Institute’s AI Literacy Initiative for filmmakers with initial support from Google.org, designed to support artists to make informed decisions about AI in their work. It is also launching the AI Literacy Alliance, which initially includes The Gotham, Film Independent, and the Creators Coalition on AI.
Informatica from Salesforce publishes a study titled CDO Insights 2026: Data governance and the trust paradox of data and AI literacy take center stage showing that 74-75% of data leaders think their staff need upskilling in data literacy and AI literacy.
The World Economic Forum article In the age of AI, human skills are the new advantage by Jean Daniel LaRock argues for the continuing importance of the liberal arts but through a modification of internships and more practical components to develop skills in reasoning, communication, and creativity and create a resilient workforce.
Microsoft releases the Copilot Usage Report 2025 analyzing 37.5 million chats, finding that health is the dominant topic, and programming and general advice are also common topics.
OpenAI launches two courses in its Certifications suite: AI Foundations for workers to gain hands-on training in AI via pilot programs with employers and public-service partners, and ChatGPT Foundations for Teachers via Coursera.
OpenAI also shares two AI literacy resources for teens and parents developed in collaboration with its Expert Council on Well-being and AI and ConnectSafely, with conversation starters and practical guidance.
The Safe AI For Children Alliance releases AI Risks to Children: A Comprehensive Guide for Parents and Educators designed for parents, teachers, and others who work with children to explain what adults can do to help keep children safe.
On the AI-Empowered Mom Podcast episode #32 Raising AI-Ready Kids, host Sarah Dooley and Day of AI Executive Director Jeffrey C. Riley discuss AI literacy as essential and how families and educators can navigate the rise of AI and ensure that kids use AI tools safely and responsibly.
The ai/teens conference report communicates insights on how teens around the world think about AI and their recommendations across education, policy, and ethics based on the March 2025 conference.
In Users of generative AI struggle to accurately assess their own competence Eric W. Dolan reports on the research study titled AI makes you smarter but none the wiser: The disconnect between performance and metacognition by Daniela Fernandes et al. showing that people using Generative AI may overestimate their success when using AI assistance for logical reasoning tasks, suggesting that the AI gives the illusion of competence and that higher AI literacy correlated with lower self-assessment accuracy.
In From AI Literacy to Professional AI Fluency: The PAF-Business Framework, Maturity Progression, and Assessment Valeri Chukhlomin introduces the concept of Professional AI Fluency (PAF) designed for workplace readiness as an alternative to AI literacy which doesn’t focus on performance in workplace environments.
In Comparing AI literacy policies in the European Union, the United States, India, and China [paywalled] Haoyu Yang et al. compare 41 literacy policies around the world and where they differ in talent cultivation and attraction strategies, such as AI and STEM programs or creating dedicated institutions.
In The Surprising Paradox of AI Literacy: How Lower AI Literacy Can Lead to Higher Acceptance [paywalled] Jiaxuan Li et al. study consumers’ AI literacy and AI acceptance, finding that lower AI literacy increases mystification of AI behavior and enhances acceptance but that treating AI like a human reduces perceived mystery.
Government
The UK Government publishes the report AI Skills for Life and Work: Rapid Evidence Review by Prof Rob Procter and the Alan Turing Institute for Data Science and AI which finds that a significant percentage of people in the UK have only partial Essential Digital Skills (EDS) for life and work and that STEM skills in education need to underpin a range of subjects, not just STEM-focused ones.
The UK Government also promotes free AI foundations training for UK adults on its online AI SKills Hub, with a goal of making the UK the fastest adopting AI country in the G7.
The Australian Government releases its National AI Plan to grow the AI industry, with one of the three goals to support and train Australian workers.
In AI Literacy: The Missing Piece in Government Innovation CityGov’s Sam Alamarie calls AI literacy the first step in bringing AI to government in a way that’s sustainable and publicly accountable.
Legal
In AI literacy: The courtroom’s next essential skillset Rabihah Butler from Thomson Reuters Institute reviews the webinar AI Literacy for Courts: A New Framework for Role-Specific Education and what panelists said about the need for AI literacy for judicial officers and court professionals, with a case study of how the LA Country Superior Court implemented training.
Libraries
In From Information Literacy to AI Literacy: Preparing Librarians for Emerging Responsibilities Agnes Pearcy discusses how the LIS literature lacks a shared, field-specific framework, risking the AI divide, and how a forthcoming AI and Libraries course at the North Carolina Central University Master of Library Science program hopes to respond to these challenges by combining library education with AI education.
In The CARE approach for academic librarians: From search first to answer first with generative AI Leo S. Lo discusses the CARE approach (Classify, Assess, Review, Enhance), as a way for librarians to critically engage with AI answers with students and faculty and acknowledge the shift in how people are beginning their research journey.
In Are librarians the key for teaching AI literacy? Jessica Wong from CBC News in Canada writes about library workshops that help students learn about AI and ask questions in a more relaxed space and the role of librarians in promoting AI literacy and helping instructors navigate the AI age.
In Information literacy as the missing core of AI literacy: the evolving role of librarians [paywalled] Zakir Hossain examines AI literacy in education and libraries and positions information literacy as a foundational part of AI literacy.
Education
Finland adds AI literacy to its national curriculum as part of efforts to combat fake news and make people more resistant to propaganda, with primary school students being taught how to spot fake news and disinformation.
UAE Minister of Education Sarah Al Amiri gives an interview on how AI literacy is being implemented in UAE schools for students and teachers.
In Most states still don’t tie AI literacy and computer science together Anna Merod reports on research from Code.org and CSforAll in the 2025 State of AI & Computer Science Education showing that only four states focus on AI in computer science standards, 61% of high school students participate in CS courses, and there is still a difference in who takes these courses (66% young men vs. 34% young women).
The American Association of Colleges and Universities and Elon University’s report The AI Challenge: How College Faculty Assess the Present and Future of Higher Education in the Age of AI by C. Edward Watson and Lee Rainie covers the results of a survey of over 1,000 US faculty in November 2025 about the impact of Gen. AI tools on their teaching and students. 95% thought that students would be increasingly overreliant on AI tools, 49% said it was very or extremely important for students to develop AI literacy skills, and 69% said they addressed AI literacy issues in their instruction.
Yearender-China Focus: AI takes root in basic education, nurturing future innovators discusses some of China’s approaches to compulsory AI classes for students and teacher training programs designed to help educators gain the skills to teach the AI curriculum.
The Brookings Institution’s Center for Universal Education’s study of students, parents, educators, and tech experts in 50 countries plus a literature review and Delphi panel titled A New Direction For Students in an AI World: Prosper, Prepare, Protect finds that using Gen. AI in education can negatively impact children’s development and that the risks overshadow the benefits. The report offers 12 recommendations including co-creating educational AI tools, using AI tools that teach instead of tell, promoting holistic AI literacy, and supporting families to manage children’s AI usage at home.
LEGO Education announces a curriculum for computer science and AI for K-8 classrooms with kits of ready-to-use materials featuring LEGO bricks, hardware, and lessons for beginners and more experienced students.
Anthropic partners with Teach For All to offer AI tools and training to educators in 63 countries through the AI Literacy & Creator Collective (LCC), which will enable over 100,000 teachers and alumni in Teach For All’s network to develop AI fluency and use Claude AI in the classroom.
In The Leadership Imperative: Defining AI Guidance to Prepare Students for a Changing World on the AASA (The School Superintendents Association) blog, Gladys Cruz writes that the integration of AI into the classroom aligns with three AASA principles to prioritize student-centered learning, provide real skills for real life, and measure what matters.
DeVry University plans to embed AI literacy and skill building into every course by the end of 2026 to ensure students have the technical proficiency needed for the workforce, and faculty are participating in an AI training program to prepare them.
EdSurge’s article Lack of Guidelines and Expertise Prove Challenging for AI Use in Schools reports on the nonprofit think tank Milken Institute’s release of a report that calls for K-12 institutions to emphasize AI literacy alongside critical thinking and decision-making skills, even as 60% of U.S. schools or districts don’t have Gen. AI guidance for usage and often leave it up to individual teachers.
In Make AI literacy the essential ingredient of our education in MalayMail, English lecturer Shazlin Niza Ab Razak calls for AI literacy to be recognized as an essential educational competency in Malaysia and to ensure learners understand how AI tools work and how to use them responsibly.
The Guardian article Generation AI: fears of ‘social divide’ unless all children learn computing skills by Robert Booth covers arguments for making AI literacy a universal part of education, alongside reading and writing, to avoid a social divide splitting youth who learn about AI and those who don’t.
The Hechinger Report article Educating teachers to use AI without harming the planet by Ariel Gilreath and Caroline Preston discusses how AI can be used to teach environmental lessons and how a course called An Education for Sustainable Futures will blend AI literacy with geography and environmental science education.
Purdue University’s Board of Trustees approve a plan to introduce an AI working competency as a graduation requirement for all undergraduate students starting with new students in fall 2026.
Day of AI announces a partnership for AI literacy for 5,000 Maryland Public School students which involves training 20 educators from K-5 and other specialists to be able to teach foundational AI concepts and host family AI literacy nights focused on using the tech responsibly.
In the Community College Daily’s AI literacy through AI bots in the classroom, Katie Wheeler recommends making your own bot to help students engage with problem-solving and build AI literacy, and enable her to see their completed conversations to grade the process rather than the product.
The University of Pittsburgh’s Department of Informatics and Networked Systems introduces an AI course called AI Literacy: Foundations for Critical Thinking and Informed Use to explore AI’s applications in society and develop students’ ethical and analytical understanding.
In The New York Times’ article The Class Where ‘Screenagers’ Train to Navigate Social Media and A.I. Tiffany Hsu reports on efforts at Abraham Lincoln High School in San Francisco to teach students digital and AI skills using resources from other organizations such as Stanford, MIT, and Code.org.
Princeton Day School’s upper school division (grades 9-12) introduces an interdisciplinary course on AI that looks at AI’s social and ethical dimensions, how to develop students’ agency, and big questions such as Can AI be trusted? and Can we afford AI?
The open-access book GenAI in Higher Education: Redefining Teaching and Learning by Sam Illingworth and Rachel Forsyth offers practical guidance for professionals in higher education around Gen. AI with real-world examples, case studies, and guidances.
In Comprehensive AI Literacy: The Case for Centering Human Agency, Sri Yash Tadimalla et al. argue for a shift toward comprehensive AI literacy that centers human agency, defined as the empowered capacity for intentional, critical, and responsible choice.
In “AI is not just a robot; it’s more than a robot.”: Understanding children’s AI competencies in an AI literacy workshop Tolulope Famaye et al. analyze a five-day online AI literacy workshop for children 7-11 and what these young learners gained from this AI education.
In Metacognitive AI literacy: findings from an interactive AI fair Brian Hutler et al. discuss how an interdisciplinary team at a large university organized an Interactive AI Fair focused on strategies for promoting AI literacy, and found that the undergraduate students who came to the fair were both excited and concerned about AI, were interested in how AI works and how to use it, but also the social and cultural impacts it was having. They see value in applying Shen’s 1975 science literacy framework (practical, civic, and cultural literacy) to AI literacy.
In Development and influencing factors of artificial intelligence literacy and computational thinking in Chinese university students Zhihua Hu, Huili He, Chunqu Zhang, and Yurong Guan explore AI literacy and computational thinking literacy of undergraduate students and assess AI literacy across four dimensions: Smart Responsibility, Smart Knowledge and Skills, Intelligent Thinking, and Human-Machine Collaboration Hybrid Innovation. They find that new engineering students are better at algorithmic thinking while new liberal arts students were stronger in human-machine collaboration.
In AI Literacy and Reliance: The Use of ChatGPT in Academic Writing Among Filipino Major Students Regine Maye H. Solano et al. examine how often first-year Filipino major students at Central Bicol State University of Agriculture used ChatGPT, their dependency on it, and their academic writing performance, finding a risk of over-reliance.
In AI literacy in media education: A comparative study of mass communication students in the UAE and Pakistan Sajjad Ali et al. analyze the AI literacy of over 500 mass communication students in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Pakistan and find regional differences and barriers such as limited access, inadequate training, and slow internet. The authors show the need for AI literacy integration in media curricula alongside faculty training and policy development.
In Developing generative AI literacies through self-regulated learning: A human-centered approach Abram D. Anders and Emily Dux Speltz develop a framework combining Gen. AI literacies (functional, critical and ethical, and creative) with self-regulated learning (SRL) processes across a plan, iterate, evaluate cycle.
In The Mediating Role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Literacy in Graduate Seminar Coursework and Ethical Preparedness: Insights from the Graduate Students Artemio L. Florendo looks at how graduate students in the Philippines develop ethical preparedness for AI, and the results of a study of 39 graduate students undergoing a 20-hour AI literacy and ethics course.
In Artificial Intelligence Literacy and Anxiety Levels of Pre-service Science Teachers Burcu Akbay et al. assess AI literacy and AI anxiety levels of pre-service teachers in Turkey.
In From Familiarity to Criticality: Cultivating EFL Teachers’ AI Literacy Through an AI-Integrated Genre-Based Pedagogy Yuan Zhang and Mohd Ali Samsudin compare AI literacy programs for Chinese EFL teachers and find that a genre-based module with more disciplinary specificity was more effective for boosting AI literacy.
In Linking AI Literacy, Self-Efficacy, Attitudes, and Achievement: A Mixed-Methods Study on the Moderating Role of AI Usage and Study Year Thu Hoang Anh Dang and Vu Thanh Tam Nguyen look at the relationship between AI literacy, attitudes towards AI, AI self-efficacy, and academic achievement of undergraduates in Vietnam.
In Fueling AI literacy through school support: unveiling the mediating role of basic psychological need satisfaction in Chinese university English teachers Jie Yang and Xiangling Li explore how school support influences university English teachers’ AI literacy in China and key institutional strategies that relate to teachers’ autonomy, competence, and relatedness.
