A.I. Literacy Is the New Driver’s Ed at a Newark High School

Washington Park High School in Newark has launched an A.I. literacy class for seniors that began by asking students to compare times they passively scrolled through A.I.-driven feeds with times they actively selected videos or search results. A slide in the room asked, 'Are you steering the technology or is it steering you?' In discussion, Adrian Farrell said he had a chatbot check his math for accuracy, while Brianna Perez said she went into 'passenger mode' with a Spotify A.I.

DJ. Schools across the United States are introducing A.I. literacy lessons designed to teach students how to examine tools and use them responsibly—some educators call it a 'driver’s license' for A.I. Classes range from prompting chatbots like Google’s Gemini or Microsoft’s Copilot to studying harms such as deepfakes.

Advocates say A.I. education prepares students for jobs and competition with China; researchers caution that chatbots can hallucinate, enable cheating and erode critical thinking.

United States, Newark

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