AI Literacy Framework · Part 1 of 7
Where you’re starting
How you use AI now, and the reasons to be skeptical and to want to learn more.
Quick AI poll
A temperature check before you begin. This poll was originally developed for a live workshop, so here it’s just for you: answer on paper or in your head. Nothing is collected.
- How do you feel about AI right now?1 worried – 5 excited
- How often do you use AI tools?Never · A few times a month · Weekly · Most days · Every day
- What do you mostly use it for?School · Work or placement · Personal life · I don’t use it
- What does your school, employer or community partner say about AI?Encourages it · Allows it with conditions · Bans it · Hasn’t said · I don’t know
- Have you ever caught an AI tool being confidently wrong?Often · Once or twice · Never · Not sure
- How confident are you that you could spot wrong AI output in your own field?1–5
- Have you ever told someone you used AI on a piece of work?Always · Sometimes · Never · Doesn’t apply
- In one word: AI in my field is…
What to expect
There are no right answers. Look for gaps between how you feel and what you do: are you excited but rarely use it, or worried but use it every day?
More reflection
- Where do you use AI now, and what for?
- Where have you drawn the line on AI use and why? Think of something you decided not to use AI for or weren’t sure you were allowed to.
Take a couple of minutes on each. If you get stuck, try these: What’s made you hesitate? Where has it surprised you, good or bad? What would you need before you’d trust it?
What to expect
Most people land somewhere between “use it for everything” and “never”, and the line often sits in a different place for school, work and personal life. Hold on to your reasons for caution. The research below speaks to several of them.
Reasons to be skeptical
Here’s what some of the research has found. Each of these comes back later in the workshop.
2025
Learning can suffer
Students with a basic GPT-4 maths assistant did better in practice but scored about 17% lower on a later unaided test. A tutor with learning safeguards avoided the penalty.
Apr 2025
Chatbots can agree too readily
OpenAI withdrew a GPT-4o update because it had become overly agreeable and flattering, after weighting short-term user feedback too heavily.
Jul 2025 · Early-2025 tools
Feeling faster, working slower
In a trial with 16 experienced developers, AI made tasks take 19% longer. Afterwards, they believed it had made them 20% faster.
A 2026 follow-up suggests newer tools help more, though it couldn’t reliably size the effect.
Jul 2024
Ideas can become more alike
In a short-story experiment, AI raised individual creativity ratings, but the stories became more similar to each other.
Reasons to want to learn more
And the other side of the ledger.
Jun 2026
Useful time savings
In BCG’s survey, 42% of regular AI users among frontline employees reported saving at least a full workday each week. These gains are self-reported.
Jun 2026
Skills are changing
In the same survey, 72% said AI had changed skill expectations in their roles. Knowing how to direct and review AI matters more.
Sep 2026
New scientific tools
AlphaGenome Atlas predicts the effects of 9 billion possible single-letter DNA changes, helping researchers prioritise what to investigate.
Where could AI help you do something you couldn’t easily do before?
Keep your answer in mind. It’s where delegation starts, in Part 3.