AI literacy for students: the four domains in the new OECD framework

Students are already using AI. The question for schools is no longer whether students meet AI, but whether they understand it well enough to use it with judgment.

In 2026, the OECD and the European Commission published Empowering Learners for the Age of AI, an AI literacy framework for primary and secondary education (the AILit Framework). It also contributes to the PISA 2029 Media & Artificial Intelligence Literacy assessment, which means AI literacy is on its way to being measured internationally.

Four domains of AI literacy

The framework organises AI literacy into four domains, built on knowledge, skills and attitudes:

1. Engage with AI. The foundation. Learners think critically about the role of AI in daily life and use it intentionally and responsibly. The framework stresses that this is more than digital skills: it demands critical thinking and media literacy.
2. Create with AI. Hands-on experiences using AI to explore and develop new ideas.
3. Manage AI. Deciding whether AI is truly needed, setting clear goals, and recognising when human oversight, creativity or expertise should take the lead.
4. Shape AI. A deeper understanding of how AI systems work, so learners can take part in shaping how AI is designed and used.

Engage comes first. Create and Manage run in parallel. Shape builds on all three.

AI-literate, not AI consumers

What stands out is the emphasis on judgment. A student who can get an answer from a chatbot is not AI-literate. A student who can tell when that answer might be wrong, decide whether AI should be used at all, and explain what the tool is actually doing, is.

That is the heart of our AI for Students programme: critical thinking, AI literacy, and the human edge that machines can’t replicate.

Explore AI for Students →

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Source: OECD / European Union (2026), Empowering learners for the age of AI: An AI literacy framework for primary and secondary education. OECD Publishing, Paris. https://doi.org/10.1787/65cd27d4-en