In the Age of AI, Students Must Learn to See, Not Just Write

Literacy today extends beyond reading and writing

- T.J. Thomson

From the earliest year of school, children begin learning how to express ideas in different ways.

Lines across a page, a wobbly letter, or a simple drawing form the foundation for how we share meaning beyond spoken language.

Over time, those first marks evolve into complex ideas. Children learn to combine words with visuals, express abstract concepts, and recognise how images, symbols and design carry meaning in different situations.

But generative artificial intelligence (AI), software that creates content based on user prompts, is reshaping these fundamental skills. Al is changing how people create, edit and present both text and images. In other words, it changes how we see and how we decide what's real.

Take photos, for example. They were once seen as a "mirror" of reality. Now, more people recognise their constructed nature.

Similarly, generative Al is disrupting long-held assumptions about the authenticity of images. These can appear photorealistic but can depict things or events that never existed.

Our latest research, published in the Journal of Visual Literacy, identifies key literacies at each stage of the Al image generation process, from selecting an Al image generator to creating and refining content.

As the way people make images changes, knowing how generative Al works will let you better understand and critically assess its outputs.

Textual and visual literacy