5 Ways to Build Critical Literacy in the Age of AI

The following headlines have made the rounds online, but which one is actually true?

• “Mermaids Spotted Off the Florida Coast”
• “An AI-Generated Image Wins a Major Photography Award”
• “High School Student Writes an Entire Essay Using ChatGPT, and Earns an A” 

(Hint: Only one of them is.)

In a world where artificial intelligence can produce convincing text, images, and even videos in seconds, the ability to read critically is essential. Today, students can find answers faster than any generation before them, but access to information isn’t the same as understanding it. The challenge for educators is helping them move from consuming information to questioning it.

AI demands that we extend the blueprint for teaching decoding, fluency, and comprehension into the domain of critical literacy. This is the capacity to analyze, evaluate, and discern truth across formats, platforms, and perspectives.

Moving From Decoding to Discernment

A decade ago, the challenge was getting students to decode the words on the page. Today, the challenge is getting them to decode the world.

AI tools can summarize, paraphrase, and even “analyze” text. But they can’t truly interpret, weigh evidence, or recognize bias. That’s where human readers come in, and where teachers can help students reclaim their agency as thinkers.

Critical literacy isn’t about distrusting every source; it’s about learning how to verify truth. It teaches students to ask:

• Who created this message, and why?
• What’s missing from this version of the story?
• How do I know this is real?

Critical literacy is more than evaluating information. It’s about teaching students to question, analyze, and reflect on the messages they encounter every day. In an AI-driven world, students must be able to read beyond the surface, recognize bias, identify missing perspectives, and make thoughtful, ethical decisions. This allows them to make choices and shape the world around them.

These five strategies help students build the habits of mind that lead to responsible, informed, and critical engagement with their world.

1. Lateral reading: Think like a fact-checker

When professional fact-checkers verify a claim, they don’t read down a page—they read across multiple sources. This is called lateral reading, and it’s a skill that students can practice in any subject area.

Try this: Give students a viral claim (for example, “A shark was found swimming on a flooded highway”). Instead of scrolling within one article, have them open new tabs and investigate questions like, “What do other sources say?” “Are reputable outlets covering this?” “Who originally published the claim?”

This small shift, reading across rather than down, teaches students that credibility comes from corroboration, not confidence.

2. Deepfake analysis: Reading images like texts

As AI-generated images and videos become more sophisticated, visual literacy becomes essential. Students learn how to “read” images the same way they read written texts, by examining details, questioning authenticity, and verifying information.

Try this: Show two short video clips: one authentic and one AI-generated. Ask students to look for clues: unnatural lighting, mismatched lip movement, inconsistent shadows, or warped background details.

Then, guide them to use reliable verification tools. This process builds visual literacy alongside traditional fact-checking skills, encouraging students to treat images with the same critical lens.

3. ‘Real or Fake?’ Classroom Challenge

Critical literacy can and should be engaging. When students practice evaluating real-world examples of questionable content, they quickly develop confidence in their ability to distinguish credible information from misinformation or AI-generated text.

Try this: Host a “Real or Fake?” challenge where students bring in articles, posts, or AI-generated text. Working in small groups, they must determine which items are credible and then present their reasoning.

Over time, students begin to see patterns for how legitimate journalism cites verified sources, how misinformation plays on emotion, and how AI-generated writing sometimes lacks context or specificity, such as emotional manipulation.

4. Multimodal text sets

Information rarely exists in a single form anymore. Students encounter it through videos, podcasts, infographics, interviews, and social media clips, each with its own perspective. Helping them compare these modes supports deeper comprehension and teaches them that information is always shaped by perspective and purpose.

Try this: A powerful way to build students’ critical literacy is to use a multimodal text set focused on a single topic, such as ocean pollution or AI and creativity. Teachers might include a short informational article, a documentary clip, a social media post or infographic, and an AI-generated summary. Seeing the same topic in different formats helps students notice how each one communicates information differently.

As students explore the texts, they can consider questions like these: “What did you learn from each source?” “Which one was the easiest to understand?” “Which one made the topic feel most important?” “What is still confusing or missing?” Through this work, students begin to see that every source has strengths and limitations. They also learn how to compare information in meaningful ways.

5. Integrating AI Into critical literacy

AI doesn’t have to be the enemy. It can be a teaching partner. When students learn how to evaluate AI-generated text, they develop a powerful awareness of the tool’s strengths and limitations. This positions them to use AI responsibly in their own lives.

Try this: Have students generate a paragraph using the SchoolAI tool, then analyze it for accuracy, vagueness or biases, and determine what evidence would help strengthen it.

This activity reframes AI as a tool for evaluation, not something to avoid. It also reinforces that the deepest learning happens after the AI has spoken, when the human reader begins to think.

Critical literacy is more than a digital skill; it’s about living responsibly in a world overflowing with information. It asks students to pause, question, and look deeper at what was created, who benefits from it, and how it may influence their lives. When students learn how to examine information with intention, they become better readers and develop habits of awareness that guide responsible decision-making in everyday life.

Whether they’re evaluating a headline, scrolling through social media, or interacting with AI-generated content, critical literacy empowers students to navigate their world with curiosity and confidence. AI will continue to evolve, but the human mind’s ability to question and connect ideas will always be the ultimate literacy skill.

Authenticity Matters

Let’s revisit the headlines I shared earlier. They all seem a bit dubious, but the second is one accurate—“An AI-Generated Image Wins a Major Photography Award.” It happened in 2023, and the artist declined the award. The artist’s intention was to create a conversation about authenticity so that people would think deeply about the content they absorb, and he succeeded.

When students can uncover truth in an era of endless information, that’s real literacy.