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Domains of AI Awareness for Education & Introduction to the AI Challenge

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 If you’ve found yourself here, it’s likely that you’re already involved in the Generative AI conversation to some degree. Maybe you’re Generative AI-curious or Generative AI-confused and just wanting to figure out what the hype is all about. Maybe you’ve already chosen the path of resistance and are seeking ways to avoid Generative AI technologies in your work and day-to-day life or to find the language to voice your concerns. Or, perhaps you’ve chosen to adopt GenAI and are seeking ways of integrating it into your teaching, learning, work, or daily lives that align with your values. 

The question of Generative AI is complex. If you’re anything like me, your social media and news feeds are likely flooded with both the promises and perils of Generative AI. Depending on what news the algorithm feeds you, you may see promises of how GenAI will make learning more accessible, solve unsolvable problems, or cure loneliness. Or you may see grim warnings of the theft of human creativity, the erosion of critical thinking, or the devastating environment impact of Generative AI technologies. There are numerous conflicting perspectives on Generative AI, which are often tied to strong emotional reactions. It can be challenging to separate the hype from the reality and harder yet to figure out if/how Generative AI may fit into our own teaching, learning, professional practices, or daily lives in a way that aligns with our own values and beliefs. 

The underlying premise of this series is that you need to understand Generative AI in order to make an informed decision on where you fall on the AI-adopter spectrum. The ability to understand, critically assess, and decide how to use Generative AI tools can be called ‘AI Literacy’. But, AI Literacy is a somewhat amorphous and contested concept with various definitions and underlying motivations (Leander & Burriss, 2020; Velander, Otero, & Milrad, 2024; Kentz, 2024; Reynoldson, 2025).

Many emerging AI Literacy frameworks are built on the assumption that the use of Generative AI technologies is both inevitable and desirable. These models focus primarily on the knowledge and skills necessary to use these tools. The AI Literacy Framework proposed by Barnard College (Hibbert et. al., 2024), for example, echoes Bloom’s Taxonomy by showing AI Literacy as a progression of skills from understanding Generative AI to creating Generative AI technologies.  

UNESCO released an AI Competency Framework for both teachers and learners, whose primary aim is to “empower them to use AI responsibly and thoughtfully, ensuring that AI contributes positively to society and the environment” (UNESCO, 2024). Although the UNESCO framework does focus on the importance of ethics and human-centredness, it still emphasises AI capacity building and, ultimately, integration into society, as the goal.  

Other models approach AI Literacy by identifying distinct domains of knowledge and skill. Stanford’s AI Literacy Framework (Stanford Teaching Commons) breaks AI Literacy into four domains of understanding: 

  • functional literacy (how does GenAI work?) 
  • rhetorical literacy (how do we use language to achieve our goals with GenAI?) 
  • ethical literacy (how do we engage with the ethical issues of GenAI?) 
  • pedagogical literacy (how can we use GenAI to teach and learn?).

Each of these domains is similarly defined with a progression towards advanced use of Generative AI technologies, as though this is the only desirable outcome of AI Literacy.  

For those opting to adopt Generative AI technologies, these frameworks may provide useful for ensuring ethical, human-centred adoption. However, if we acknowledge that individuals have a choice to resist AI technologies, we need to rethink AI Literacy to allow for different motivations and outcomes. AI Literacy should not be contingent on an underlying narrative that adoption of AI technologies will be essential for participating in education, the workforce, or society in general. Instead of focusing on what we should be doing with Generative AI technologies, a useful starting point is focusing on what we need to know about Generative AI. We need to demystify Generative AI to make an informed decision to use or not use these technologies.  We also need to acknowledge that Generative AI is much more complex than simply understanding the underlying technologies or how to use them – Generative AI development and use is entangled in complex sociopolitical systems and simultaneously evokes individual emotional responses as it butts up against personal values and beliefs. The question cannot simply be “What can I do with it and how?” but “What implications does using Generative AI have for myself and society? And what uses (if any) align with my values and beliefs?”  


AI AWARENESS for Education Diagram showing 7 domains of awareness: knowledge, skill, ethics, values, pedagogy, interconnectedness
Domains of AI Awareness for Education Framework showing 7 domains of awareness. Credit to Western’s ITRC for creating the graphic.  

 

The Domains of AI Awareness for Education model consists of 7 key domains of awareness: 

  • Knowledge: understanding what Generative AI is, how it’s trained, and how it functions 
  • Ethics: understanding the broader ethical issues of the development and use of Generative AI technologies 
  • Skill: understanding how to use Generative AI tools and to critically evaluate their output 
  • Pedagogy: understanding Generative AI’s potential impact on learning and teaching and being able to make informed decisions about its use in education 
  • Values: understanding how Generative AI use aligns or contradicts individual and collective values, including academic integrity 
  • Affect: being able to engage in meaningful discussion with others about Generative AI while understanding and being able to navigate your own and others’ emotional response to Generative AI   
  • Interconnectedness: understanding how AI technologies and AI practice are situated within complex institutional and social structures that impact development, technologies, and social practices 

Early versions of this model were called “(Critical) AI Literacy for Education”, but ultimately, I’ve opted to move away from that language to more clearly distinguish the underlying motivation from AI-use to AI-awareness. Whether we call it AI Literacy or something else, it is necessary to be aware of these different facets of Generative AI technologies in order to make informed decisions on resistance or adoption or anything in between. This post and the Generative AI Challenge series are not a call to adopt Generative AI tools in your teaching, learning or daily lives. They are equally not a demand to reject Generative AI tools outright. Instead, they are an opportunity to critically reflect on what Generative AI is and its potential impact (both negative and positive) within and beyond education. You are invited to determine your own stance by considering diverse perspectives on Generative AI while keeping in mind your own values. Note that your position on Generative AI is likely to evolve as your awareness of each domain increases.  

In the interest of radical transparency (gratitude for a CTL colleague for the term), I will disclose that I am generally techno-critical, and my own beliefs about AI would fall under the AI Skeptic category. But, I strongly believe in the value of hearing diverse perspectives (hence this series, and, for Western University folks, the Generative AI Community of Practice).

The Challenge

Your challenge is to reflect on where you fall on the AI-adoption spectrum and to increase your awareness of the domains that may offer a different perspective to your current Generative AI position. 

You are welcome to start with the quiz below. It's a fun tool for reflecting on your AI-perspective. It is not validated, verified, or substantiated. The questions were modified from GenAI generated suggestions. Have fun. Think about your reaction to the questions and how they inform your beliefs about AI. But don't take this too seriously.  


 

Possible Quiz Results: 

  • AI Abolitionist. You believe that the world would be a much better place if Generative AI disappeared. 
  • AI Skeptic. You believe that in most cases, the use of Generative AI will make things worse. But you are open to the possibility that there are some positive use-cases. 
  • AI Pragmatist. You believe that there are some practical and positive uses of Generative AI. But you're also aware that it has the potential to cause harm. You approach Generative AI with caution and consideration. 
  • AI Optimist. You believe that with guidance and regulation, Generative AI could have a lot of positive impact. You believe that it's worth exploring, and you're happy to experiment. 
  • AI Evangelist. You believe that Generative AI will eventually hold all of the answers to all of the problems. You are all in and enjoy experimenting with AI technologies. 

 

Now, consider the following:  

  • Where are you getting your information about Generative AI? Is it largely on the positive end or on the critical end of the AI-Adoption Spectrum.  
  • Which of the 7 domains of awareness do you feel you have developed the most? Where do you think you may need to focus more attention? 

The Generative AI conversation can be divisive, with folks taking up extreme positions on the AI-adoption spectrum. This is often amplified by echo chambers, or digital environments where we may constantly be encountering only information and opinions that reinforce our existing beliefs and position. This series is intended to interrupt the echo by providing alternative viewpoints across the spectrum of AI-beliefs.  

I encourage you to start by seeking out information that might challenge your existing perspective. Choose one (or both) of the options below:  

  • Use Western Libraries’ (or your library at your own institution) search catalogue to find recent articles on Generative AI. Think about aspects of Generative AI that you have particularly strong feelings about. Search for articles that may provide a counterpoint. Here are some tips on Search Strategies that you may find helpful.  
  • Try out the Provocabot to explore claims or views that challenge your own position. Note, that this is an AI Agent built in ChatGPT 4.0 and does require an OpenAI account to access. Depending on where you sit on the AI-adoption spectrum, using this bot may not align with your values. Also, although improved, the bot is also prone to inventing sources, so I encourage you to use a critical lens as you engage with it.  

Although the goal of this series is not to sway you to take a particular stance on Generative AI use, we do ask that you have an open mind as you engage with alternative viewpoints and build your own awareness of Generative AI. I hope you’re looking forward to the challenge over the next 8 weeks!

 

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References

Disclosure

NOTE: This post was written by a human without Generative AI assistance. Typos, grammatical errors, and linguistic oddities are all my own. However, ChatGPT 4.0 was used to create the AI-Adoption Spectrum quiz questions, which were then edited.  

Your Challenger