Fostering AI Literacy through Opening the Black Box of Foundational Text Generation Models
Daria Smyslova, Franziska Bickel, Qiankun Li, Shiyan Jiang, Rebecca Ellis, Jie Chao · Proceedings. · 2025
This pilot study investigates the impact of an intervention aimed at demystifying foundational text generation models to enhance AI literacy among ninth-grade English Language Arts students.Pre-and post-surveys revealed significant gains in self-assessed performance, while qualitative analysis showed improved understanding of concepts like predictive modeling.However, students struggled to connect foundational knowledge to advanced AI systems like ChatGPT.The findings highlight the importance of teaching foundational models and developing strategies to bridge this gap, supporting comprehensive AI literacy in K-12 education.