In the rapidly evolving world of artificial intelligence, literacy in AI is no longer optional—it’s essential. Kara Kennedy’s edition of the AI Literacy Review offers a sweeping overview of how governments, businesses, educators, and skeptics are approaching the challenge of preparing society for an AI-driven future.
The Big Picture: AI at Work and in Learning
The State of Data & AI Literacy Report 2025 by DataCamp surveyed 500 leaders across the US and UK, finding that 69% consider AI literacy essential in the workplace. Notably, 43% of organizations now offer AI upskilling programs.
LexisNexis’ Future of Work Report 2025 supports this trend, with over half of respondents reporting daily time savingsthanks to generative AI—53% save 1–2 hours, and 30% save 3–4 hours. While AI adoption is rising, barriers remain: concerns about data privacy, inadequate training, and integration challenges continue to stall full-scale implementation.
Jules White of Vanderbilt University addresses these gaps in The AI Labor Playbook, which helps organizations train teams to effectively direct AI labor using communication and systems thinking skills.
Accountants are also rapidly adopting AI. A global survey cited by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales revealed that 85% of professionals are open to AI, and 83% of young accountants already use it weekly for tasks like data entry. The report recommends leadership by example and investing in an AI-ready workplace culture.
LexisNexis’ Future of Work Report 2025 supports this trend, with over half of respondents reporting daily time savingsthanks to generative AI—53% save 1–2 hours, and 30% save 3–4 hours. While AI adoption is rising, barriers remain: concerns about data privacy, inadequate training, and integration challenges continue to stall full-scale implementation.
Jules White of Vanderbilt University addresses these gaps in The AI Labor Playbook, which helps organizations train teams to effectively direct AI labor using communication and systems thinking skills.
Accountants are also rapidly adopting AI. A global survey cited by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales revealed that 85% of professionals are open to AI, and 83% of young accountants already use it weekly for tasks like data entry. The report recommends leadership by example and investing in an AI-ready workplace culture.
Policy and Public Initiatives
The White House’s executive order on AI education aims to embed AI proficiency across schools, launching a Presidential AI Challenge, a new Task Force on AI Education, and public-private partnerships for K–12 learning.
The Center for AI and Digital Policy has also published the fifth edition of its AI and Democratic Values Index, drawing from input from over 1,000 contributors in 120+ countries. It evaluates national AI strategies and their alignment with democratic norms.
Adobe’s Content Authenticity Initiative released a video titled Transparency in the Age of AI, promoting open-source standards for digital content provenance to counter misinformation.
The Center for AI and Digital Policy has also published the fifth edition of its AI and Democratic Values Index, drawing from input from over 1,000 contributors in 120+ countries. It evaluates national AI strategies and their alignment with democratic norms.
Adobe’s Content Authenticity Initiative released a video titled Transparency in the Age of AI, promoting open-source standards for digital content provenance to counter misinformation.
Libraries and Open Knowledge
The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) issued a Statement on Copyright and AI, encouraging libraries to build capacity around new technologies: "Libraries should build capacity, raise awareness, and offer essential training on evolving technologies—including AI—to support employees, researchers, and other library users."
Meanwhile, the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business is offering a free AI and Career Empowerment certificate for professionals, comprising ten online modules.
Meanwhile, the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business is offering a free AI and Career Empowerment certificate for professionals, comprising ten online modules.
AI in Education: A Global Look
From K-12 to higher education, AI literacy is reshaping curricula and pedagogy worldwide.
In The New Yorker, historian D. Graham Burnett asks Will the Humanities Survive Artificial Intelligence? He contends that while AI may upend traditional education, it also invites a return to the humanities’ core mission: “...the lived experience of existence.”
In Azerbaijan, researchers Sevinj Iskandarova et al. examine the challenges of integrating AI in higher education, highlighting gaps in faculty training and leadership readiness.
The OECD is planning a new PISA 2029 Media & AI Literacy Assessment, designed to evaluate AI competencies in young learners. A first draft is due in December 2025. Educational researcher Ben Williamson explores the implications for educators in his analysis Performing AI Literacy.
Elsewhere, Duke University’s Remi Kalir documents how Dr. Jennifer Ahern-Dodson and her students experimented with generative AI in writing courses, while researchers like Dongli Zhang use Structural Equation Modeling to analyze the relationship between AI literacy, trust, and dependency among pre-service math teachers.
In The New Yorker, historian D. Graham Burnett asks Will the Humanities Survive Artificial Intelligence? He contends that while AI may upend traditional education, it also invites a return to the humanities’ core mission: “...the lived experience of existence.”
In Azerbaijan, researchers Sevinj Iskandarova et al. examine the challenges of integrating AI in higher education, highlighting gaps in faculty training and leadership readiness.
The OECD is planning a new PISA 2029 Media & AI Literacy Assessment, designed to evaluate AI competencies in young learners. A first draft is due in December 2025. Educational researcher Ben Williamson explores the implications for educators in his analysis Performing AI Literacy.
Elsewhere, Duke University’s Remi Kalir documents how Dr. Jennifer Ahern-Dodson and her students experimented with generative AI in writing courses, while researchers like Dongli Zhang use Structural Equation Modeling to analyze the relationship between AI literacy, trust, and dependency among pre-service math teachers.
Open Resources for AI Education
Several educators and institutions are sharing tools and resources to promote AI literacy:
Practical tools are also reaching younger students: Mehmet Emrah shares AI literacy lesson plans for fourth graders using ChatGPT and Copilot, while Aaron R. Gierhart trains future educators to foster AI literacy in their classrooms.
Multiple contributors emphasize the importance of AI fluency for youth. Matt at Ditch That Textbook warns of the misconception that AI tools like ChatGPT are equal to real research. Jack Dougall’s YouTube video, 3 Reasons You NEED To Teach Your Children About AI, echoes that call with compelling reasons even for skeptics.
- Blair Attard-Frost posts syllabi, slides, and reading lists from the University of Toronto’s AI ethics courses under a Creative Commons license.
- Mark A. Bassett of Charles Sturt University shares a GenAI primer video and a S.E.C.U.R.E. Use Framework, offering risk-based AI guidance for faculty.
- John R. Gallagher curates 54 academic sources on AI literacy in an organized Substack post.
- Sarah Elaine Eaton publishes a teaching resource called Teaching Fact-Checking Through Deliberate Errors, aimed at developing evaluative judgment in students.
Practical tools are also reaching younger students: Mehmet Emrah shares AI literacy lesson plans for fourth graders using ChatGPT and Copilot, while Aaron R. Gierhart trains future educators to foster AI literacy in their classrooms.
Multiple contributors emphasize the importance of AI fluency for youth. Matt at Ditch That Textbook warns of the misconception that AI tools like ChatGPT are equal to real research. Jack Dougall’s YouTube video, 3 Reasons You NEED To Teach Your Children About AI, echoes that call with compelling reasons even for skeptics.
The AI Skeptics Push Back
Not everyone is sold on the AI education movement.
In AI & Society, philosophers Robert Sparrow and Gene Flenady argue that universities should resist AI hype and instead focus on “smaller class sizes and passionate teachers.” They suggest AI literacy, if needed, should be taught separately from traditional subjects.
In a more pointed critique titled Against AI Literacy: Have We Actually Found a Way to Reverse Learning?, Miriam Reynoldson calls AI literacy a “dangerous device of neoliberal education,” arguing that the term “literacy” itself misrepresents what it means to engage with generative AI.
The AI literacy movement of 2025 spans government mandates, corporate training, grassroots initiatives, and critical resistance. As Kara Kennedy’s comprehensive review shows, AI is reshaping how we learn, work, and think—and the debate over how best to respond is just getting started. “Instead of pretending that the AI revolution isn’t happening, we can return to what was always the heart of the matter.” — D. Graham Burnett
In AI & Society, philosophers Robert Sparrow and Gene Flenady argue that universities should resist AI hype and instead focus on “smaller class sizes and passionate teachers.” They suggest AI literacy, if needed, should be taught separately from traditional subjects.
In a more pointed critique titled Against AI Literacy: Have We Actually Found a Way to Reverse Learning?, Miriam Reynoldson calls AI literacy a “dangerous device of neoliberal education,” arguing that the term “literacy” itself misrepresents what it means to engage with generative AI.
The AI literacy movement of 2025 spans government mandates, corporate training, grassroots initiatives, and critical resistance. As Kara Kennedy’s comprehensive review shows, AI is reshaping how we learn, work, and think—and the debate over how best to respond is just getting started. “Instead of pretending that the AI revolution isn’t happening, we can return to what was always the heart of the matter.” — D. Graham Burnett