AI literacy is the only way to a successful AI-human collaboration and AI-assisted education
Without AI literacy, the risks of AI will increase
AI literacy is not a new concept. It emerged several years when I was writing for an Ed tech publication. Back then, the talks about AI in education were common with participation of academics, researchers, ed tech companies, and education technologists.
This was before the launch of ChatGPT.
I am now bringing the topic back because AI literacy is something everyone will need in order to survive the transition into what AI will bring to every industry and sector, and even to those who think technology is not their thing.
You can like it or not, yet AI-based technologies are having a significant impact on every industry, automating tasks, improving efficiency in cases, and enabling innovation, fundamentally changing how various sectors operate. This, in turn, affects our daily life by introducing new products and services, optimising processes, and providing more accurate experiences. Not always this is true, though.
Higher education has a role to play preparing the future professionals who will take on upcoming innovations. This is why AI literacy skills have become an undeniable need in university curriculums.
Without AI literacy skills future grad students will find it hard to compete for in-demand graduate-level jobs
This is noticeable already today.
New graduates who are not AI literate will find it hard to find graduate-level jobs. Graduates need to be prepared with the right skills and tools to face the world in the AI era. For this reason, universities must be ready to adapt and provide more AI literacy training to their students in all disciplines. It’s not just adopting AI is teaching the students how and when it is appropriate to use it.
Education institutions need to train their students to live and work in a society where they must interact with Artificial Intelligence in one way or another in both work and personal life. We have reached a point where AI literacy in no longer an option but a requirement for most in-demand jobs. It is the equivalent to being proficient at reading and writing today or in the past.
In education, AI literacy must comprise both a hands-on learning experience and a theoretical perspective.
Generative AI and higher education
Since its launch, OpenAI’s ChatGPT and its subsequent versions and competitors have generated an increasing interest in Artificial Intelligence in the population as a whole. In fact, Generative AI has become the most relevant contribution to the acceleration of AI mainstream adoption. What most people don’t understand is that not all the artificial intelligence is generative. But I that is something for another time.
For now, let me say that most people don’t understand what artificial intelligence is and much less the risks it poses if misused. This brings me back to AI literacy. To know if you are misusing a technology you must learn and become literate in that technology. Otherwise, you risk misusing it even without knowing you are misusing it. This is dangerous, as you most likely agree.
As we embark and utilise AI-based technologies and Generative AI such as ChatGPT more frequently and realise also about their ethical issues, both students and faculty must have certain knowledge and skills about AI in order to face the challenges.
Moving from digital literacy to AI literacy
In the educational sector, there is an imminent shift from digital literacy to AI literacy. The fundamental question of what makes a human AI literate is currently in a state of evolution. Yet, AI literacy is something that every student must be exposed to, and I would say, every student from a very young age, indeed.
AI literacy does not belong only and exclusively to those who are on a computer science path but must include everyone. In the same way, AI literacy must be included in every level of education, way before college, from elementary school where students can learn the basics, pretty much like we learned the alphabet at some point. Many of them already interact with a form of AI in their phones and home appliances, after all.
AI literacy: A fundamental pillar in education
Those who will remain AI illiterate in the future, will have less opportunities. AI must be incorporated into every course and curriculum in order to reflect the AI era we live in, to have a better understanding of the world around us, and to be aware of its impact on everyday life.
Future professionals, even those who are not computer scientists, mathematicians, or AI engineers will have to interact with these new technologies on a daily basis. They have to do it today already.
What it means to be AI literate
AI literate is someone who possesses the ability to understand, use, monitor, and critically reflect on AI applications without necessarily being able to develop AI models themselves.
A frequently cited definition of AI literacy was developed by Long and Magerko (2020), who define it as:
“A set of competencies that enables individuals to critically evaluate AI technologies, communicate, and collaborate effectively with AI, and use AI as a tool online, at home, and in the workplace.”
Governments are supporting AI literacy with free educational programs
Some governments have officially recognised the need for AI literacy programs; a few free government-supported programs in collaboration with universities are currently available, including:
Elements of AI
Elements of AI from Finland, created by MinnaLearn and the University of Helsinki (available in English and many other languages), aims to strengthen AI literacy for global non-experts. It is available to anyone in the world. For English language choose “Global” from the drop-down language option.
https://www.elementsofai.com
AI Campus
The AI Campus from Germany, developed by the Humboldt University of Berlin, the FernUniversität in Hagen, the Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University (DHBW), and other partners (available in English and German). This is a learning platform that specifically addresses the needs of individual sectors such as the use of AI in medicine and healthcare.
https://ki-campus.org/overview/course
Both learning platforms for AI learning are available to everyone free of charge.
I encourage you to have a look at the platforms, what they offer, and start to your journey into becoming AI literate, like your future will depend on it.
Very true Susan. I am deeply suspicious and wary of AI but I agree that it is important to "keep up" and be informed. 😀