Artificial intelligence is no longer a future concept. It is already shaping how we learn, work, and make decisions every day. Yet for many learners, educators and workers, AI remains something they use without fully understanding, or something they feel pressure to adopt before they feel ready. 

That is why National AI Literacy Day matters. 

Observed nationwide on March 27, National AI Literacy Day is a call to action to help students, educators, families and communities answer two fundamental questions: What is AI, and how do we prepare people to thrive in an AI-enabled world?  

At ETS, we believe AI literacy is not optional. It is rapidly becoming a foundational skill, as essential as reading, writing, and numeracy, and a cornerstone of equitable opportunity in education and the workforce.

Data from the 2026 ETS Human Progress Report underscores the urgency we're seeing. 

Across 18 countries surveyed, workers identified AI literacy as the single largest skills gap in today’s economy, with a 19-point gap between how important AI skills are perceived to be and how proficient people feel they are.  

The report also found that: 

• Workers expect AI to be involved in more than half (52%) of their work tasks within two years, up from about one-third today. 
• 60% of workers feel pressure to adopt AI tools before they feel ready, often without clear guidance or standards. 
• 73% say it is difficult to know what level of AI competency employers actually expect, reinforcing confusion and anxiety rather than confidence. 

The 2026 ETS Human Progress Report shows that workers who regularly use AI are significantly more optimistic about their future job prospects, while those with limited AI exposure are more likely to feel anxious about becoming obsolete. AI literacy is quickly becoming a divider between opportunity and uncertainty.

National AI Literacy Day emphasizes that access to AI tools alone is not enough. AI literacy includes understanding: 

• How AI systems are trained and where their limitations lie 
• How to evaluate AI generated information for accuracy and bias 
• How to use AI responsibly, ethically and safely 
• When human judgment matters more than automation 

These themes are central to the National AI Literacy Day movement, which brings together classrooms, libraries, community organizations and educators to build foundational AI understanding across age groups. At ETS, this broader definition aligns with our longstanding mission: advancing the science of measurement to power human progress.

ETS’s work in AI literacy spans research, assessment and real-world application — all grounded in measurement science and responsible innovation.

Through our Center for Responsible AI in Learning and Assessment, we are helping define new ways to measure AI literacy. We are also building datasets, frameworks and publications to help leaders make informed decisions around AI policy, training and benchmarks.

ETS has already developed an AI literacy assessment, Futurenav™ Adapt AI. It measures key aspects of AI literacy, including AI understanding, prompt engineering and AI application for problem solving. Insights from Adapt AI assessments help workforce leaders understand AI literacy strengths in their workforce and develop robust upskilling plans to close skill gaps.

ETS employees are seeing the benefits of Adapt AI first-hand through the internal AIgnite initiative. Using insights from Adapt AI, AIgnite will equip every employee with job-relevant, real-world AI skills.

At ETS, we see AI literacy as a powerful lever for human progress: one that can help learners navigate complexity, help educators teach with confidence, and help workers turn rapid change into opportunity. 

National AI Literacy Day offers a chance to take action and advance AI literacy. Together, we can build a shared language, shared standards, and shared expectations. 

To learn more about the steps ETS is taking for the future of AI literacy, explore ETS's AI Hub.