Many technologists say artificial intelligence will reshape the future of all sectors of society, including K-12 education. Therefore, they add that today’s students need to have AI literacy to prepare for a world in which the fast-evolving technology will be used regularly in everyday life and in careers.
New EdWeek Research Center data show that many students are already being taught AI literacy.
Nearly 8 in 10 educators said high school students in their district are receiving lessons on what AI is and how to use it responsibly, according to a nationally representative survey of 499 teachers, principals, and district leaders conducted in December and January. Seventy-three percent said the same for students in 6th through 8th grades.
“I am pleasantly surprised,” said Pat Yongpradit, the general manager of global education and workforce policy for Microsoft. “What these numbers tell me is that educators are meeting the AI moment and leaning into their responsibility to prepare kids not just for academic subjects but life. They understand the urgency to help students build the knowledge and judgment they’ll need to navigate AI.”
Microsoft’s 2025 AI in Education report found that 76% of global leaders view AI literacy as an essential component of basic education for every student, and 66% said they wouldn’t hire someone without AI literacy skills, Yongpradit said.
AI literacy is “the technical knowledge, durable skills, and future-ready attitudes required to thrive in a world influenced by AI. It enables learners to engage, create with, manage, and design AI, while critically evaluating its benefits, risks, and implications,” as defined by the U.S. Department of Education in its proposal to include AI in its grant-funding priorities.
Schools are delivering these AI literacy lessons in a variety of ways: Some districts are implementing them through existing technology or media literacy classes, while others are designing stand-alone AI literacy classes.
Younger students are less likely to receive these lessons, though, the EdWeek Research Center survey found. Nearly 4 in 10 educators said 4th and 5th grade students were being taught AI literacy, while 8% of educators said the same for students in pre-K through 3rd grade.
The “appetite” for AI literacy is there, said Caroline Humphrey, a staff product manager for MagicSchool, a generative AI tool provider. “The challenge isn’t interest. It’s having the right resources, structures, and support to do it well, including safety guardrails that give teachers and families confidence, especially when bringing AI to younger students.”
The challenge for schools is finding the time to train teachers to integrate AI literacy into their curricula, especially with other pressing priorities, such as reading and math achievement, according to educators. Another challenge is the difficulty of vetting AI tools and ensuring student and staff safety and privacy.
A quality AI literacy program emphasizes age-appropriate learning
The gap between the proportion of secondary students receiving AI literacy lessons and the proportion of primary students receiving them points to “the need to develop what we would call AI literacy learning pathways,” said Kelly Mills, the senior director of powerful learning research at the nonprofit Digital Promise. AI literacy needs to be cumulative, competency-based, and consistent across classrooms and throughout a student’s K-12 journey, she said.
Other ed-tech experts agree. A quality AI literacy program starts in early grades, with age-appropriate lessons, and is integrated into existing curricula, they said.
AI literacy doesn’t just mean teaching students how to use AI tools, said Karim Meghji, the CEO and president of Code.org. He said it’s also about critically evaluating its outputs and the fundamentals of data, bias, misinformation, and ethics surrounding AI use.
“Ultimately, AI literacy isn’t about creating future AI engineers,” Meghji said. “It’s about ensuring students become thoughtful, critical users of powerful tools that are already shaping how they learn, work, and participate in society.”
Skeptics of the benefits of AI in education worry that schools’ AI literacy lessons don’t focus enough on the technology’s harms.
Benjamin Riley, the founder and CEO of Cognitive Resonance, a think tank that helps people understand how generative AI works, previously told Education Week that AI literacy efforts often just give a perfunctory nod to the downsides of AI and fall into a “pro-hype” slant.
“Very little [time] is actually spent on saying, ‘And therefore, you shouldn’t use it,’” Riley said. “If you are truly ‘AI literate,’ you would understand that using AI as a student is likely offloading the cognitive effort that is the entire purpose for why your school or your class exists.”
Data analysis for this article was provided by the EdWeek Research Center. Learn more about the center’s work.
