Date: 9th February 2026
Updated Open Letter to the UK Government: Prioritising AI Literacy for All People
To Prime Minister Keir Starmer; Rt Hon Liz Kendall MP, Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology; the Rt Hon Bridget Phillipson MP, Secretary of State for Education
On Wednesday 28th of January we saw the government launch “Free AI training for all” aimed to provide 10 million workers in the UK with key AI skills by 2030. The promoted “AI Skills Boost” badged free courses offered in the catalogue are run by U.S.A big tech companies such as Amazon, Google and Microsoft. On July 8th 2025 we wrote to you raising our concerns about this initiative. As we mentioned, while we welcome investment in AI education, we urge the government to recognise that true AI upskilling requires investing in AI literacy for all people and this goes beyond learning to use AI tools. It includes providing opportunities for parents, older people, the voluntary sector, people from underserved and marginalised communities, and individuals from every walk of life to develop their own understanding of, and perspectives on, AI. It includes a focus on human agency and autonomy, media and critical literacies.
Currently, 84% of the UK public feel disenfranchised and excluded from AI decision-making, and mistrust key institutions. This significant gap in public engagement highlights the necessity of broader public AI literacy. Without comprehensive public understanding and sustained engagement, designing and deploying AI technologies in the public interest is not possible.
Building critical AI literacy for all requires accessible and independent materials, beyond a focus on individual companies and tools, alongside a range of opportunities for different communities to engage critically with learning about AI in context: not just how to adopt and use AI. In terms of skills, there are many UK organisations that are already working on upskilling people with their AI skills, tailoring the programmes to the local communities they have been working with for years. The DataLab, for example, is a UK non-profit organisation with a track record in AI upskilling courses, and expanding this offering would be a more UK-based approach to delivering skills. In addition, through the Scottish AI Alliance they created a “Living With AI” course which is an accessible, free online learning designed for anybody to become informed about AI, regardless of their prior knowledge and expertise”.
We urge the government to recognise successful UK AI strategy is dependent on an informed and engaged public. We must move beyond the perception that AI is primarily about technology: it affects all of our lives. To that end, we specifically call for a dedicated focus on scaling and sustaining comprehensive critical AI literacy programmes for all people together with local UK-based organisations. Furthermore, we respectfully request a meeting again with relevant government officials to explore how this vital public education can be co-created and delivered with civil society and academic partners. By investing in independent AI literacy initiatives that are accessible to all, the UK can help to ensure that its AI future is shaped by public voices. It will empower the public to consider whether an AI assisted approach to a task is appropriate and beneficial and how to negotiate that in a specific context. Growth will only yield the desired benefits if it is evenly distributed, which requires skills beyond technical and practical ones.
Sincerely,
Adele Walton, Online safety campaigner.
Dr. Adi Kuntsman, Manchester University.
Adrian von Wrede-Jervis, International Baccalaureate.
Áine MacNeill, Ulster University.
Professor Andrew Cox, University of Sheffield.
Andy Jaffrey, Ulster University.
Anushka Sharma, Naaut.
Dr. Ben Williamson, Centre for Research in Digital Education, University of Edinburgh.
Dr. Brian McGowan, Ulster University.
Bruna Martins, Tecer Digital.
Cargi Yildirim, Independent.
Chloe Rickard, TEC women CIC.
Dr Christine Aicardi, Kings College London
Cinzia Pusceddu, Independent researcher.
Dr. Daniel Leightley, King’s College London.
David Ace, Company Director.
David Coleman, Cisco.
Debbie Ball, University of Westminster.
Ed Howarth, Tech4Good South West.
Ed Newton-Rex, King’s College London.
Edwin Colyer, Scientia Scripta.
Dr. Edzia Carvalho, University of Dundee.
Dr. Emily Rempel, Liverpool Civic Data Cooperative.
Dr. Eleonora Lima, Kings College London.
Dr. Elinor Carmi, Senior Lecture, data politics & social justice, City St. George’s, University of London.
Eva Garcia Grau, Royal Holloway, University of London.
Dr. Fabio Tollon, University of Edinburgh.
Frances Yeoman, Liverpool John Moores University, Journalism Department
Dr. Garfield Benjamin, University of Cambridge.
Dr. Gavin Maclean, Edinburgh Napier University.
Professor Geoff Cox, London South Bank University.
Georgie Broad, Independent.
Dr. Gianfranco Polizzi, University of Birmingham.
Giles Lane, Royal Academy of Engineering.
Professor Gina Neff, University of Cambridge.
Professor Guido Noto La Diega, University of Strathclyde.
Graham Lovelace, Charting Gen AI.
Graham Tavener, Better Futures Multi-Academy Trust.
Harry Harold, NeonTribe.
Hollie Bayliss, Neural Networking.
Dr. Ina Sander, Helmut-Schmidt-University Hamburg.
Ismael Kherroubi Garcia, Kairoi & Responsible Artificial Intelligence Network (RAIN).
Dr. James Garforth, University of Edinburgh.
Janet Wiegold, Peoples Panel on AI.
Dr. Jasmeen Kanwal, University of Edinburgh.
Jemima Gibbons, Sticks & Stones.
Jenny Hawke, Chair of CILIP Youth Libraries Group.
Dr. Jessica Elias, Manchester Metropolitan University.
Dr. Joanna Tidy, University of Sheffield.
Dr. Joanna Boehnert, Bath Spa University.
Dr. Jonathan W. Y. Gray, King’s College London.
Dr. Jo Walton, University of Sussex.
Joy McLean, West College Scotland.
Dr Karen Gregory, University of Edinburgh.
Kari Gerstheimer, Access Social Care.
Professor Keeley Crockett, Manchester Metropolitan University.
Laura Boyd, Health Innovation Yorkshire and Humber.
Laura Woods, Co-Chair, CILIP Information Literacy Group.
Leo Havemann, UCL.
Lucia Bertollo, Three Hands Insight.
Lucy Read, Future Views Today.
Louis Coiffait-Gunn, Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP).
Dr. Lyndsay Grant, Lecturer, School of Education, University of Bristol.
Margaret Colling, People’s Panel/Public Voice in AI.
Marissa Elis, Diversily.
Dr. Mark Bailey, UUBS, Ulster University.
Dr. Mark Wong, head of social and urban policy, University of Glasgow.
Mehdi Rizvi, Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh.
Michael Davey, Signly Ltd.
Naomi Glover, Neuro-Informed.
Oonagh Carson, Ulster University.
Dr Pam McKinney, University of Sheffield.
Professor Peter Flach, University of Bristol.
Dr. Photini Vrikki, UCL.
Dr. Pieter Verdegem, University of Westminster.
Ploipailin Flynn, AIxDesign.
Rachel Coldicutt, Careful Industries.
Dr. Rebecca Jones, Imperial College London.
Ronise Nepomuceno, Independent.
Sam Steele, National Centre for Creativity enabled by AI (CebAI).
Dr. Sara Maioli, Newcastle University.
Sarah Elsegood, CILIP Academic and Research Libraries Group.
Sarah-Jane McAteer, Public Contributor in Health Research.
Dr. Serber Abaci, University of Edinburgh.
Dr. Sheena Macrae, Independent Researcher.
Dr. Shuvarthi Bhattacharjee, University of Brighton.
Sobanan Narenthiran, Breakthrough Social Enterprise.
Dr. Stef Garastro, University of Greenwich.
Steph Wright, Our AI Collective CIC.
Stéphane Goldstein, Media and Information Literacy Alliance – MILA.
Stephen Oram, Nudge the Future Fiction
Stuart Clough, Freelance AI Executive.
Dr. Susan Oman, senior Lecturer, data, AI & society, The University of Sheffield.
Tabitha Goldstaub, LichenAI.
Tania Duarte, founder, We and AI.
Dr. Teoma Naccarato, Falmouth University.
Tim Davies, director of research & practice, Connected by Data.
Dr. Vasilis Galanos, University of Stirling.
Dr. Veli Hillman, EDDS Institute.
Professor Wayne Holmes, UCL.
Zoya Yasmine, University of Oxford.