The AI literacy educators at the AI Ethics Lab at Rutgers University use the KSAM method to define AI literacy as possessing the Knowledge, Skills, Attitudes, and Motivations to promote the public understanding and ethical use of artificial intelligence.
Knowledge
AI literacy requires a working vocabulary and conceptual fluency to understand how artificial intelligence systems function, how they are developed and deployed, and how they shape, and are shaped by, human society. This includes understanding key technical and ethical terms explored in this glossary. It also includes familiarity with the AI lifecycle, ethical frameworks, and relevant laws and policies.
Skills
As an interdisciplinary field grounded in computer science, ethics, law, and the social sciences, AI literacy draws on a range of civic, analytical, and technical competencies, including:
- Critical Inquiry: Assess how AI systems are designed, whom they benefit or harm, and how they impact rights, agency, and social equity. Examine how AI evolves within political, cultural, economic, and historical contexts.
- Ethical Deliberation & Policy Analysis: Apply ethical frameworks and evaluate public policy responses to emerging AI technologies.
- Data & Statistical Literacy: Analyze datasets used in training AI models, identify potential biases or sampling errors, and interpret metrics related to fairness, accuracy, and impact.
- Computational Thinking & Prompt Engineering: Break down problems into structured components, engage with AI tools effectively, and interpret AI-generated outputs critically and contextually.
- Information & Media Literacy: Detect misinformation, verify sources, trace the origins of model outputs, and understand the implications of AI generative content.
- Civic Communication: Participate in public discourse about AI by modeling respectful, evidence-based dialogue that acknowledges diverse perspectives and fosters informed democratic engagement.
Attitudes
As AI literate people, we embody the virtues of openness, curiosity, and intellectual humility. We approach complex technologies with a willingness to learn and question, cultivating empathy for those affected by AI systems, particularly individuals from marginalized or underrepresented communities. We acknowledge that understanding a system or its creators does not require uncritical acceptance, and we remain reflective about our own standpoints and biases.
Motivations
AI literacy is an ethical pursuit. We reject the misuse of AI knowledge to cause harm, whether intentionally or unintentionally. As AI-literate professionals, we commit first to nonmaleficence, the promise to do no harm, and second to beneficence, the promise to promote good. We take shared responsibility for shaping AI in ways that uphold human dignity, social justice, and the inalienable rights of all people.
