What is AI literacy and the four-competency framework

AI literacy is the ability to effectively collaborate with artificial intelligence tools. Not just knowing which buttons to press, but developing judgment to use AI well in different situations. The four-competency framework, developed through a research collaboration between Professors Rick Dean and Joseph Feller, highlights four key competencies. The first is delegating: deciding what work is done by the human and what by the AI, and how to distribute tasks between them. The second is describing: effective communication with AI systems, clearly defining outcomes and desired behavior. The third is discerning: the thoughtful and critical evaluation of AI results — quality, accuracy, appropriateness, and directions for improvement. The fourth is diligence: responsible and ethical use of AI, transparency, and taking responsibility for the work done with AI. The prompt structure from lesson two — set the context, define the task, specify the rules — is based on the "describing" competency. The troubleshooting methods in this lesson rely on "discerning" and "diligence."