What Media Literacy Means in the Age of AI

The global market intelligence firm International Data Corporation estimated in 2024 that more data had been created in the three preceding years than in all of history before that. With this trend predicted to continue apace, aided by generative artificial intelligence tools that can automate and churn out an unlimited number of convincing falsehoods and deepfakes at unprecedented speed, K-12 educators must prepare young minds to navigate an ocean of information that didn’t exist until recently. Two experts say that the answer lies in qualities like critical thinking and cognitive independence that AI doesn’t have—qualities that make us human. Armine Movsisyan, learning manager for the ed-tech teaching nonprofit Ed3 DAO, specified four building blocks, or educational foundations to teach students, to give them some confidence in dealing with AI:

• critical thinking skills to question assumptions, evaluate resources, recognize biases and consider alternative perspectives
• basic knowledge of AI to understand its strengths, limitations, and what it can and cannot be used for
• an awareness of their own values, beliefs, motivations, perspectives and emotional states, and those of others
• cognitive independence to use AI as a thought partner, including knowing when and how to off-ramp