When we launched the third cohort for the Integrating AI Literacy into the Curricula project in September, we wanted to learn about the fast evolving AI literacy landscape in higher education. In our first workshop in October, we began to see a clear pattern: across institutions types and sizes, AI literacy development in higher education is happening almost always from the ground up.
The current state of AI literacy in higher education reflects broader patterns in how institutions respond to rapid technological change. Policy lags behind practice. Coordination struggles to keep pace with innovation. Motivated individuals and units carry the torch because they need to, even without a clear institutional plan.