⏳ Why your company needs AI literacy yesterday
The European Union made AI literacy mandatory. Meanwhile, in other countries, we're still improvising with promises and spreadsheets.
In February 2025, Article 4 of the AI Act came into effect in the European Union, creating a new reality for any company that develops or uses artificial intelligence in the region: it's now mandatory to ensure AI literacy for everyone involved in using, supervising, or implementing these systems. It doesn’t matter the industry or the size of the company, if AI is part of the process, AI literacy is required.
But what is “AI literacy”? According to the European Commission, it means having the knowledge and skills to use AI systems in an informed way, with awareness of the risks, limitations, and responsibilities involved. This applies to everyone , from someone using a chatbot for customer service to someone reviewing AI-generated documents in HR or legal. And it goes beyond knowing how to use the tool: it’s about knowing what not to trust, how to spot bias, and how to respond when something goes wrong.
Let me give you an example: imagine a marketing professional using ChatGPT to create ads. Without AI literacy, they might not notice that the generated text reinforces gender stereotypes or includes inaccurate information. Or the legal team copies a clause written by AI without checking the source? (Of course, that never happens, right...). The risk of errors, bias, or misuse goes up, and so does the responsibility.
See for yourself: https://artificialintelligenceact.eu/article/4/
AI literacy isn’t about learning how to code. It’s about using AI with judgment. That means knowing when the AI is hallucinating, when human review is needed, and how to document its use for regulatory purposes. A good AI literacy program should match the type of AI used and the level of risk it can create. There’s no one-size-fits-all rule, and that’s a good thing, considering how fast the technology evolves.
From a technical point of view, AI literacy directly impacts how AI systems are built and used, improving the way humans interact with computational models.
For example, professionals with AI literacy better understand the context limits of LLMs, the non-deterministic nature of outputs, the Eliza Effect, and the implications of overfitting, bad prompting, and hallucinations.
This helps engineers, analysts, and operators choose the right model (e.g., discriminative vs. generative), fine-tune responsibly, document decisions following MLOps best practices, and assess risks based on system confidence and explainability.
Companies aiming to work in the European market, or simply preparing for future regulations, can’t afford to wait until 2026. Starting an internal training plan now is already a competitive (and ethical) advantage.
References
EUROPEAN COMMISSION. AI Literacy – Questions & Answers. Brussels: Publications Office of the European Union, 2025.
ZHANG, Chengzhi; MAGERKO, Brian. Generative AI Literacy: A Comprehensive Framework for Literacy and Responsible Use. arXiv preprint arXiv:2504.19038, 2025.