Why we should be skeptical of the hasty global push to test 15-year-olds' AI literacy in 2029

This article critiques the growing push for AI literacy in K–12 education, arguing that policymakers are embracing AI-related initiatives before establishing a clear understanding of what AI literacy actually entails. Focusing on the OECD’s planned integration of Media and AI Literacy (MAIL) into the 2029 PISA assessment, the authors contend that international testing frameworks risk institutionalizing AI literacy as an educational priority without sufficient stakeholder deliberation or evidence of its necessity. Drawing on critiques of AI, educational policy, and technological solutionism, the article argues that AI literacy is being advanced through an “innovation imperative” driven by urgency, complexity, and vulnerability. The authors question whether AI can meaningfully address the social, political, and structural challenges facing education, including teacher shortages, inequitable working conditions, and student precarity. They warn that optimistic narratives about AI-enabled educational transformation may function as a form of “AI realism,” distracting attention from longstanding systemic problems. The article concludes by urging educators and policymakers to critically examine assumptions about AI’s inevitability in schools and to resist framing AI literacy as the unquestioned future of education.