Tracing Everyday AI Literacy Discussions at Scale: How Online Creative Communities Make Sense of Generative AI
This research addresses the gap in AI literacy frameworks by showing its dynamic, practice-driven nature in online creative communities, offering insights for developing better learning resources and policies.
The study analyzed 122k Reddit conversations from creative communities over three years to understand how AI literacy emerges organically, finding that creators primarily focus on practical tool usage, with ethics discussions spiking only during major AI events.
Developing AI literacy is increasingly urgent as generative AI reshapes creative practice. Yet most AI literacy frameworks are top-down and expert-driven, overlooking how literacy emerges organically in creative communities. To address this gap, we performed a large-scale analysis of 122k Reddit conversations from 80 creative-oriented subreddits over a three-year period. Our analysis identified four consistent themes in AI literacy-related discussions, and we further traced how discourse shifted alongside major AI events. Surprisingly, creators primarily frame AI literacy around how to use tools effectively, foregrounding practice and task skills, while discussions of AI capabilities and ethics surge only around high-profile events. Our findings suggest that AI literacy is dynamic, practice-driven, and event-responsive rather than static or purely conceptual. This study provides insights for researchers, designers, and policymakers to develop learning resources, community support, and policies that better promote AI literacy in creative communities.