Zulkifli Musa nails a critical point: digital literacy is yesterday’s game, AI literacy is the future’s MVP. We all know how to use apps, but how many of us truly understand the wizardry behind AI decisions shaping our daily lives—from loan approvals to job screenings? Musa urges Malaysia to move from passive tech users to savvy, questioning citizens who don’t just accept AI’s outputs but interrogate their fairness and biases.
This is no geek-only party — understanding AI basics isn’t rocket science. Knowing that AI learns from data (which can be flawed), or that it can confidently spew wrong answers, equips us to spot trouble. It’s civic literacy for a digital democracy. Teaching this requires flipping traditional education on its head: instead of banning or ignoring AI, educators must embrace and demystify it.
What struck me is the call to localize AI literacy—not just translating materials but embedding Malaysian cultural context and values into how AI is taught and applied. This is key to avoiding a tech landscape shaped only by foreign priorities.
Let’s face it: without AI literacy, we risk surrendering critical decisions to opaque algorithms, turning citizens into data points rather than participants. Musa’s piece is a wake-up call wrapped in pragmatism—let’s equip Malaysians not just with fast internet but with smart minds ready to challenge and shape technology, ensuring it empowers rather than controls.
In short, the future doesn’t belong to the fastest clickers, but the sharpest thinkers. Source: Malaysia needs AI literacy, not just digital literacy
