AI Literacy and Pedagogy in the Age of Generative AI

What is AI Literacy?

According to a 2020 paper, by Long & Magerko, who synthesized a variety of interdisciplinary literature into a set of core competencies:

AI literacy is the ability to:

• critically evaluate AI technologies

• communicate and collaborate effectively with AI

• use AI as a tool-- online, at home, and in the workplace

Erin Burns has developed a list of skills/competencies from Long and Magerko (2020), Data Feminism, and Unmasking AI.

• Understand the basic definitions of AI

• Effectively prompt and critically evaluate AI generated information

• Critically evaluate the tools themselves by questioning the design and implementation of AI tools

• Understand that data, data processing, and computing is not a neutral process

• Discern the benefits and challenges inherent in this technology

• Contextualize the tools within current societal uses

• Recognize the privacy and bias issues inherent in this technology

Articles on AI literacy

• Alyson Klein, Education Week, May 2023 - Why it's vital to have a basic understanding on how generative AI works, hands-on opportunities to use the technology, Discuss and Analyze the ethical questions about the technology, How to interact effectively with AI, Not Just for Computer Science Experts

• Matt Crabtree, Data Camp, What is AI Literacy? A Comprehensive Guide for Beginners, Covers Technical, Practical, and Ethical understandings as part of AI literacy

Tutorials

How does Chat GPT work? Tutorials from University of Arizona

This guide is a guide to generative AI only.

We cover those AI tools that can generate text, images, video, music or speech: Examples: ChatGPT, Bing Chat, Midjourney, Runway.

Last update, August 2024.

Content on this guide is borrowed and modified from University of Arizona.

Created by Erin Burns, Brian Quinn, Jenni Jacobs and Josh Salmans.