Critical Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) Literacy

Librarians have been teaching information literacy skills and addressing the promises and challenges of new technology and its impact on information and research for many years.  In our instruction, we follow the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education of the Association of College and Research Libraries.  These guidelines, adopted in 2016, define the lifelong information literacy skills students need to flourish in an ever-changing technological environment.

Wolfgram Library Faculty welcome the opportunity to work with you and your students to develop critical thinking and information literacy skills in the use of generative AI.   Please fill out this Information Literacy Class Request Form or contact your liaison librarian directly to collaborate on a instructional session about critical AI literacy.

The ACRL Information Literacy Framework defines six "frames" or sets of information literacy skills that can also guide instruction in critical AI literacy skills.  The Framework is unique in that it "provides librarians and disciplinary faculty with a customizable way to provide information literacy instruction that meets the needs of students and enables them to become participants in the information that they are producing (not just consuming).  Because of the Framework's flexible nature, librarians can incorporate new technology, like ChatGPT, more easily into their instruction" (James & Filgo, 2023, p. 334).

James, A.B. & Filgo, E.H. (2023). Where does ChatGPT fit into the Framework for Information Literacy? College & Research Library News, 84(9), 334-341.  https://crln.acrl.org/index.php/crlnews/article/view/26067

In 2022, the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) approved the Framework for Visual Literacy for Higher Education, a companion document to the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education.  This new framework identifies four frames for the critical evaluation of visual information and defines visual information to include "charts, drawings, graphs, icons, maps, memes, paintings, photographs, symbols, or other visualizations, as well as multimodal texts with visual elements" (p. 2)

Both the Information Literacy Framework and the Visual Literacy Framework identify skills and concepts that can be used to analyze the material produced by generative AI tools.  

Four librarians at Miami University of Ohio created six lesson plans that use these Frameworks to expand students' critical AI literacy skills:

Duri Long and Brian Magerko define seventeen Artificial Intelligence Literacy Competencies in their article "What is AI Literacy? Competencies and Design Considerations."   These competencies may be helpful in writing learning outcomes and guiding instruction in both AI Literacy and Critical AI Literacy.

Educators are creating and sharing lessons that build students' critical AI literacy skills.  These lessons offer students and faculty the opportunity to engage with the technology, think critically about its advantages and disadvantages, and develop and apply information literacy skills.