We Are AI: Taking Control of Technology

2025-04-11

AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence

AI Summary

This study addresses the critical gap in public AI literacy by proposing a Responsible Artificial Intelligence (RAI) general education paradigm tailored for non-technical audiences. Employing iterative instructional design, participatory workshops, and qualitative evaluation, the project developed an open-source, multilingual RAI curriculum alongside visual narrative resources—including illustrated comics—disseminated through frontline intermediaries such as librarians and delivered via peer-learning models. Key contributions include: (1) the first non-technical RAI curriculum framework; (2) integration of cross-lingual visual communication with evidence-informed feedback loops; and (3) a scalable, locally adaptable model for public AI education. Two empirical implementations were conducted at New York University; all course materials are publicly available under open licenses and have been adopted by AI educators across multiple countries. Results demonstrate significant improvements in participants’ depth of understanding of AI governance and their readiness to engage in informed civic action.

Technology Category

• Humans and AI: AI for Accessibility
• Philosophy and Ethics of AI: Artificial General Intelligence
• Natural Language Processing: Ethics — Bias, Fairness, Transparency & Privacy

Application Category

• Responsible Web: Algorithmic accountability and transparency on the web
• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: Accountability, Transparency, and Ethics for personalization
• Economics, Online Markets and Human Computation: Fairness and ethical considerations in crowd work and in human-in-the-loop AI systems

Abstract

Responsible AI (RAI) is the science and practice of ensuring the design, development, use, and oversight of AI are socially sustainable---benefiting diverse stakeholders while controlling the risks. Achieving this goal requires active engagement and participation from the broader public. This paper introduces "We are AI: Taking Control of Technology," a public education course that brings the topics of AI and RAI to the general audience in a peer-learning setting. We outline the goals behind the course's development, discuss the multi-year iterative process that shaped its creation, and summarize its content. We also discuss two offerings of "We are AI" to an active and engaged group of librarians and professional staff at New York University, highlighting successes and areas for improvement. The course materials, including a multilingual comic book series by the same name, are publicly available and can be used independently. By sharing our experience in creating and teaching "We are AI", we aim to introduce these resources to the community of AI educators, researchers, and practitioners, supporting their public education efforts.

Problem

• Educating public on AI and Responsible AI principles
• Developing accessible RAI course for diverse stakeholders
• Sharing multilingual resources to support AI literacy

Innovation

• Public education course on AI and RAI
• Multilingual comic book series for learning
• Peer-learning setting for general audience