PISA 2029 Media and Artificial Intelligence Literacy

The Opportunities and the Challenges

Students around the world use digital tools every day to find information, learn about a variety of topics, and interact and collaborate with others. The increasing use of digital tools is transforming society and popular culture, making it possible for everyone to produce, and not only to consume, media themselves. This increasing use of digital tools has also generated opportunities for freedom of expression, collaborative knowledge creation, and citizens’ engagement. Today it is easier than ever to engage in social, cultural, and political action.

However, these opportunities also come with challenges. Information online is not always reliable, as media content can easily be plagiarized and reinforce biased perspectives. Some online outlets are also racing to publish the latest information, often sacrificing quality control and diffusing misinformation only to fulfil online traffic targets. These challenges are only exacerbated by the rapid advances in generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), which make it easier and faster to produce content.

More recently there have been a myriad of headlines cautioning people about the impact of AI on almost every aspect of our lives: from potentially taking away our jobs, to possibly better detecting diseases, the messages about AI have been nothing but diverse. Similarly diverse opinions have also warned about the role of AI in education: some experts continue to warn about its potentially negative impact on learning outcomes and school environments, while others are starting to explore the potentially positive benefits of AI for education.

Importance of Media & Artificial Intelligence Literacy

In this context, there are growing efforts to nurture those competences: the integration of media literacy programs into education curricula, the development of applications and games for curricular or extra-curricular activities, or the creation of international digital competency frameworks.

However, the effectiveness of these initiatives must be monitored since the stakes are high. Therefore, to bolster the potential benefits of these tools, while reducing their potential risks, it is essential to assess and develop the competencies students need to understand how digital and AI tools work, the human role in digital tools and media, the social and ethical consequences of using digital and AI tools, how to communicate and collaborate effectively with digital and AI tools, and how to critically evaluate the media content. 

The new PISA 2029 Innovative Domain on Media & Artificial Intelligence Literacy (MAIL) aims to be an instrument to support the assessment of these evidence-based interventions. It is currently defined as the set of competencies to interact with digital content and platforms effectively, ethically and responsibly.

This new assessment is envisioned as a simulated environment that would allow the collection of evidence for multiple competencies of the literacy model. These competencies are assessed using a variety of functional tools that are accessible to students in a realistic way throughout the assessment (e.g., realistic simulations of the internet, social media, and generative AI tools).

This assessment will shed light on whether young students have had opportunities to learn to engage proactively and critically in a world where production, participation, and social networking are increasingly mediated by digital and AI tools. In such an increasingly digital world, assessing media and AI Literacy will provide a better understanding of the level of skills of students around the world to evaluate the credibility, quality, and purpose of digital media, to ultimately enable them to take well-informed actions as they continue to participate responsibly and effectively in society.

Results

The results of the PISA 2029 Media & Artificial Intelligence Literacy (MAIL) assessment are expected to be available in December 2031.

Assessment framework and instruments

The first draft of the PISA 2029 Media & Artificial Intelligence Literacy (MAIL) assessment and analytical framework is expected to be available in December 2025.

For more information, reach out to the PISA innovative assessments team at edu.pisainnovation@oecd.org