AI Literacy: A Cross-Sectional Slice of New Literacies

Responding to a UNESCO call for contributions

This week, WAO member Doug Belshaw has been working with Ian O’Byrne and Tom Salmon on a response to a UNESCO call for contributions. The title of this call is Definition of Algorithm Literacy and Data Literacy, with the focus very much on AI literacy skills:

Based on the Beijing Consensus on AI and Education, there is the emergence of a set of AI literacy skills required for ethical and effective human–machine collaboration, without losing sight of the need for foundational skills such as literacy and numeracy. With the rapid adoption of ChatGPT and other generative AI technologies, it has become more urgent to define the basic sets of AI literacy skills needed by the understanding and use of AI. The basic values, knowledge, and understanding on how our data are being collected and used as well as how algorithms are being designed to manipulate the data and feed information to users of digital platforms — together with basic skills everyone needs to master of using daily AI tools, they can be summarized as data literacy and algorithm literacy. By defining algorithm literacy and data literacy, UNESCO aims to develop frameworks of AI competencies for teachers and students and to guide the empowerment of individuals in navigating around AI-rich environment, making informed decisions, and actively shaping its responsible and beneficial use.

Doug, Ian, and Tom met a decade ago when collaborating with a global community on v0.1 to v1.5 of Mozilla’s Web Literacy Map. This was, in many ways, a continuation of Doug’s doctoral work around digital literacies.

You can access what they submitted at unesco.ailiteracy.fyi (also archived here)