Critical AI Literacies
In 2024, members of DISC launched a new initiative – the AI literacy working group – to address the urgent need to understand and theorise our engagement with AI in all spheres of social, cultural and political life. “AI literacy” (or even “literacies”) extends far beyond the technical understanding of how artificial intelligence and associated technologies work. AI literacy includes a novel theorising of risks and responsibilities that come with adopting AI tools into education; an analysis of new challenges that come with the automation of major political and business decision-making; challenges posed by AI to creative practice and intellectual processes; the environmental footprint of training and operating AI systems, and much more.
Critical AI Literacies is a key theme that consolidates many of our activities: for example, some of our public engagement work with AHEAD and the 2025 Digital Politics Summer School were both dedicated to visual AI literacies; including the Visual AI Literacy platform prototype, developed by Sam Martin, and the expert webinar on visual misinformation.
In 2025, we have formed the “AI Literacy Lab”, dedicated to developing AI Literacy toolkits across different disciplines (sociology, criminology, media studies, philosophy, fashion, education) and thematic areas, in collaboration with the South Asian illustrator and graphic recorder, Sonaksha Iyengar.
Projects
Visual AI Literacy and global misinformation politics
If you can’t trust what you see, what do you believe? From deepfakes to fake war footage, this research gives you the Visual AI Literacy tools to spot manipulated images and understand their impact on politics and society.
The Political Economy of AI
Who really controls AI? Discover how a few tech giants, governments and militaries hold the power, and how we can challenge it for a fairer digital future.
Reimagining Realities
Who owns an AI image when seeing is no longer believing? Creative workshops with 10 to 21-year-olds explore how young people are redefining creativity, authorship and communication.
Environmental AI Literacy
What does your AI-written email cost the planet? Uncover the hidden carbon, water and e-waste footprint of AI, and the tools to demand industry accountability.
Educator AI Literacy
Should AI be allowed in the classroom? Drawing on research with over 120 educators, this practical toolkit helps teachers decide when AI helps learning and when it gets in the way.
Digital Zemiology
What happens to our minds when AI does all our thinking? Explore the hidden harms of “enforced digitality” and how to protect your mental privacy and independent thinking.
Algorithmic Assemblages
From a first sleep tracker to the daily scroll, children’s lives are being turned into data for profit. Interactive workshops help young people peek behind secretive algorithms and take back control of their own stories.
AI Literacy for Fashion Professionals
AI and Sonic Literacies
Can a computer write a song that makes you cry? Discover how AI music threatens artists and cultural diversity, and how we can keep the human soul at the heart of the beat.