Chapter 12: Toward a New AI Literacy

This chapter examines artificial intelligence (AI) literacy as an essential competency in the modern information landscape. We establish AI literacy as distinct from yet complementary to traditional information literacy frameworks, requiring specific skills to navigate AI-generated content and systems. We explore five core competency areas: critical evaluation of AI applications, quality assessment of AI outputs, practical skills for AI utilization, foundational technical understanding, and ethical awareness of biases and societal implications. We introduce a novel frame for considering ethical dimensions through the lens of concerns “in, out, and about” AI models. The chapter contextualizes these competencies within emerging policy frameworks and workplace studies, highlighting information professionals’ crucial role in supporting universal AI literacy development to ensure equitable participation in an increasingly AI-enabled society.