All first-year undergraduate students at Cornell will be enrolled in the University’s newly-developed AI Critical Literacy Program after its Spring 2026 launch, according to the Cornell Chronicle.
The two-hour long Canvas course discusses four different topics related to AI: how AI works, the ethical implications of AI, the impact of AI on education and tools to create a personal “AI policy.” The course is required for all first-year students at the beginning of the fall semester.
The program aims to “help participants make more informed decisions about how and whether to use AI in general, and to inspire conversations where faculty and students can learn from each other,” according to its website.
While first-year undergraduate students are automatically enrolled in the course, other members of the Cornell community, including upper-level undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty and staff, are able to self-enroll in the course for their own personal interest.
During the pilot period, the course was tested in programs across undergraduate fields. Throughout the courses that partook in the pilot program, “measurable gains in literacy” were observed in students, according to the Chronicle.
“We received a lot of positive feedback from students on how much they learned about a number of ethical issues they hadn’t been aware of before,” said Rob Vanderlan, executive director of the Center for Teaching Innovation, in an interview with the Chronicle. “We also saw some really good evidence of students reflecting on their own behaviors and use of AI to benefit their learning.”
The program was created in conjunction with the University’s Core Principles for Generative AI in Education, which was developed by the Generative AI Education Working Group, a group of faculty, staff and students that helps develop AI-related policy measures. There are seven ideas outlined by the group, ranging from “the centrality of faculty judgment and expertise in the classroom” to a “responsiveness to real student needs and uses,” according to the Core Principles.
Prof. Andrea Stevenson Won, communication, a member of the Generative AI Working Group, explained how the program can help students make decisions regarding AI in their learning, in an interview with the Chronicle. Won also served as a pilot participant for the program.
“The program is about helping students decide whether their use of AI is actually contributing to their learning or not,” Won said in an interview with the Chronicle. “But it’s also designed to be built into classes as a way to foster these conversations between faculty and students.”
Coral Platt is a member of the Class of 2029 in the College of Arts and Sciences. She is a news editor for the 144th Editorial Board and can be reached at cplatt@cornellsun.com.
