Modules
2.2 AI Literacy
Shelley Rose
AI Literacy and Tools in the Humanities and Historical Professions
The approaches to the use of AI tools in the classroom and profession have been wide and varied. In many ways, they mirror the range of applications open to those who engage with AI tools such as ChatGPT, which is a large language model released in late 2022.
Kim Martineau of IBM offers a succinct overview of Generative AI tools, defining generative AI as “deep-learning models that can generate high-quality text, images, and other content based on the data they were trained on.” (Martineau, 2023)
In 2026, these conversations are still in different stages depending on the discipline and professional landscape. To quote the classic 1996 film Twister, two of the broader conversations can be framed as:
- “It’s coming!” and
- “It’s already here.”
Twister (1996) Meme, Reddit. Accessed August 25, 2026.
AI Literacy
The most important skill a humanist or historian can learn in this academic and professional moment is AI literacy.
As a critical thinker and humanist, you have the agency to choose your position in AI conversations. This position may even change depending on context, and exists on a spectrum similar to other questions of identity. You can be an AI skeptic, resister, accepter, adopter, user, advocate, enthusiast, or innovator (to name a few roles). The only thing you cannot afford in your learning and professional journey is to ignore the impact of AI on your social, academic, and professional communities.
Paths Forward
To understand the paths forward, we need to understand the positionality of those involved in planning for future learning and professional activity in a world that includes access to AI tools. Read some recent perspectives from students, academics, and professionals below.
