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. It 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.
Andy Jaffrey, Ulster University.
Anushka Sharma, Naaut.
Dr. Ben Williamson, Centre for Research in Digital Education, University of Edinburgh.
Brian McGowan, Ulster University.
Cargi Yildirim, Independent.
Chloe Rickard, TEC women CIC.
David Ace, Company Director.
David Coleman, Cisco.
Ed Howarth, Tech4Good South West.
Ed Newton-Rex, King’s College London.
Edwin Colyer, Scientia Scripta.
Dr. Emily Rempel, Liverpool Civic Data Cooperative.
Dr. Elinor Carmi, Senior Lecture, data politics & social justice, City St. George’s, University of London.
Dr. Fabio Tollon, University of Edinburgh.
Dr. Gavin Maclean, Edinburgh Napier University.
Professor Gina Neff, University of Cambridge.
Professor Guido Noto La Diega, University of Strathclyde.
Graham Lovelace, Charting Gen AI.
Ismael Kherroubi Garcia, Kairoi & Responsible Artificial Intelligence Network (RAIN).
Dr. Jessica Elias, Manchester Metropolitan University.
Jo Walton, University of Sussex.
Dr Karen Gregory, University of Edinburgh.
Professor Keeley Crockett, Manchester Metropolitan University.
Laura Boyd, Health Innovation Yorkshire and Humber.
Lucy Read, Future Views Today.
Dr. Mark Wong, head of social and urban policy, University of Glasgow.
Naomi Glover, Neuro-Informed.
Professor Peter Flach, University of Bristol.
Dr. Photini Vrikki, UCL.
Dr. Pieter Verdegem, University of Westminster.
Ploipailin Flynn, AIxDesign.
Rachel Coldicutt, Careful Industries.
Ronise Nepomuceno, Independent.
Sam Steele, National Centre for Creativity enabled by AI (CebAI).
Dr. Sheena Macrae, Independent Researcher.
Sobanan Narenthiran, Breakthrough Social Enterprise.
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.
Professor Wayne Holmes, UCL.
Zoya Yasmine, University of Oxford.