AI literacy and the new Digital Divide: A Global Call for Action

By UNESCO.

Summary: UNESCO brief on how uneven AI literacy is widening global inequality between the Global North and Global South.

Relevance: Belongs in the Inequality & Algorithmic Harm subdomain: frames uneven AI literacy as a new axis of exclusion for women, people of color, disabled people, and LGBTQ+ communities, relevant to social workers doing digital-inclusion or community-education work with these same populations.

Key findings: Citing a 31-country survey, UNESCO notes adults are nearly evenly split between feeling nervous (52%) and excited (54%) about AI, and that women face “a significant skills gap compared to men” despite growing workplace exposure to AI-driven change. It recommends channeling resources to trusted local and community-based organizations rather than corporate online programs, arguing this builds literacy more effectively among underrepresented groups.

Read the original: https://www.unesco.org/ethics-ai/en/articles/ai-literacy-and-new-digital-divide-global-call-action