As AI becomes part of everyday life, ensuring all Australians have the skills to use it safely and confidently is critical to ensuring its benefits are shared widely
Community-based AI literacy has an important role to play in making that happen, reaching people through trusted local organisations and providing practical support that meets people where they are.
At Good Things Australia, we’re particularly interested in what the rise of AI means for people who are already at risk of being left behind in the digital world.
Around one in five Australians are digitally excluded. For people already experiencing digital exclusion, AI risks creating another barrier to participation without accessible opportunities to build the skills and confidence to use it. At the same time, AI is creating new opportunities.
We have an opportunity to get this right.
That’s why Good Things Australia and the National AI Centre are bringing together leaders from government, industry, academia and the community sector for a cross-sector roundtable exploring the role of community-based AI literacy in Australia’s AI skills ecosystem.
Co-chaired by Good Things Australia CEO Jess Wilson and National AI Centre Executive Director Lee Hickin, the roundtable will bring emerging research together with the experience of organisations already supporting people to learn about AI in their communities. The aim is to test what we’re learning, identify gaps and explore where future investment and action could have the greatest impact.
People don’t need to become AI experts
One of the strongest insights emerging from the research is that AI literacy isn’t just about understanding how the technology works. It’s about knowing what to do with it.
Early findings point to the importance of AI discernment: the ability to critically assess AI content and judge when, how and whether to use it.
Participants placed greater value on this kind of judgement than on understanding AI systems in technical detail. That matters when AI can produce information that looks convincing but isn’t always accurate.
Research participants valued the usefulness of AI but were cautious about relying on it for decisions. Concerns included inaccurate information, health and financial advice, misleading summaries, deepfakes, impersonation and deception.
As one Community Panel participant summed it up: “Knowing when to trust it and when to question it.” That’s the kind of capability we want everyone to have.
Why community-based learning matters
We’ve spent years working with communities to build digital skills and confidence, and one thing we know is that where and how people learn matters.
Sometimes people need more than information on a website or a formal training course. They need somewhere they feel comfortable asking questions, learning at their own pace and getting help from someone they trust. The emerging research reinforces this.
Participants talked about relying on family, friends and local organisations to learn about AI and wanting workshops, trusted facilitators, public information and learning connected to their everyday needs.
Trusted community organisations can provide that environment, while skilled Digital Mentors can make unfamiliar concepts easier to understand, adapt learning to different needs and help bridge cultural, language We’re already seeing what this can look like through AI for Good, our program delivered in partnership with Telstra, Microsoft and LinkedIn. Together, we’re helping make practical, community-based AI learning available to people who might otherwise miss out.
The program has reached more than 30,000 people across Australia, with over 2,000 people participating directly in AI literacy learning through ten AI Hubs.
The early impact data is encouraging:
- 87% improved their AI knowledge
- 84% improved their confidence to identify and verify AI
- 69% improved their ability to use AI safely.
But the Hubs are also helping us understand how people learn.
They show the value of taking AI learning into trusted community settings, supporting people through skilled Digital Mentors and connecting AI with broader digital skills and one-to-one support.
These experiences form part of the evidence being explored through the roundtable.
Bringing research and community experience together
The early insights being discussed draw on two sources: a Community Panel convened by ADM+S researchers at Swinburne University of Technology in collaboration with Telstra, involving 25 participants aged 19 to 68, and action research across ten AI for Good AI Hubs.
Importantly, the roundtable also brings the experience of community organisations directly into the conversation. Zeina Nachar and Dolien Nicolsen from Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Community College and Lily Kovacevic from the Network of Inner East Community Houses will share their perspectives on delivering AI literacy in their communities, and what they are seeing and learning from the people they support.
We’re grateful for the passion, experience and insights they bring to this work. Community voices like these are essential if we want Australia’s approach to AI literacy to work for people who may otherwise be left behind.
The findings are early and aren’t intended to be nationally representative. Instead, they provide emerging evidence that can help us ask better questions about what inclusive AI capability should look like.
And the message coming through is bigger than learning how to use a particular AI tool.
People want greater control over how AI affects their everyday lives, practical opportunities to build their capability, and meaningful participation in decisions about AI and its governance.
National AI Centre Executive Director Lee Hickin says building AI capability needs to extend beyond the workplace:
“AI capability isn’t just a workforce issue. It’s about ensuring all Australians have the opportunity to understand and engage with technologies that are increasingly shaping how we work, learn and access services. Our partnership with Good Things Australia helps us reach people through trusted community networks to ensure the benefits of AI are accessible to more Australians.”
For Good Things Australia, that means the conversation about Australia’s AI future has to include people who may not be reached through universities, workplaces or formal training.
This work is only possible through collaboration. Our partnerships with Telstra, Microsoft and LinkedIn are helping us test and grow community-based approaches to AI literacy, while our work with the National AI Centre is helping bring those community experiences and emerging evidence into a broader national conversation about AI capability.
As our CEO Jess Wilson says:
“People don’t need to become technical experts. They need to know when to trust AI and when to question it. Community organisations are uniquely placed to build that confidence, which is why community-based AI literacy needs to be part of Australia’s AI skills ecosystem.”
Held as part of Get Online Week, the roundtable is part of our broader work to close the digital divide and help everyone feel confident in an increasingly digital world.
The roundtable is an opportunity to bring community experience together with government, industry and research expertise, and explore what needs to happen next.
Because if AI is going to be part of everyday life, everyone needs the opportunity to build the skills and confidence to navigate it.
Evidence base and research team
The early insights draw on a Community Panel convened by ADM+S researchers at Swinburne University of Technology in collaboration with Telstra, involving 25 participants aged 19 to 68, and action research across ten AI for Good AI Hubs. The AI for Good program is delivered in partnership with Good Things Australia, Telstra, Microsoft and LinkedIn. The findings are early and should be interpreted as emerging evidence rather than nationally representative results.
Research team: Professor Anthony McCosker, Dr Susan Sheldrick, Dr Dominique Carlon, Associate Professor Timothy Bednall, Dr Misita Anwar, Social Innovation Research Institute, Swinburne University of Technology.
