What You'll Learn:
- AI literacy is an essential extension of information literacy.
- AI is changing how students encounter, interpret and evaluate information.
- Critical thinking and source evaluation are essential for responsible AI use.
- School librarians are well positioned to help students navigate AI-generated information.
In 2024, Google introduced AI Overviews, placing AI-generated summaries above traditional search results such as links to news organizations, educational institutions and government websites. According to a 2025 Pew Research Center report, Google users were significantly less likely to click cited sources when an AI-generated summary appeared in search results. This suggests students may be less likely to examine the original sources behind an AI-generated summary, making it even more important to verify claims, understand context and evaluate the evidence supporting an answer.
The principles of information literacy haven't changed, but the way students encounter information has. Today, students aren't simply evaluating sources. They're evaluating AI-generated interpretations of those sources — and deciding when to dig deeper.
Information Literacy Has Expanded to Include AI Literacy
As AI becomes increasingly embedded in the ways students search for, encounter and create information, AI literacy should not be considered separate from information literacy, but rather an extension of it (Donovan, 2026, p. 36). This creates an opportunity for school librarians to reinforce their role in helping students become critical consumers and users of information.
The Inquire competencies in the AASL Standards Framework commit to helping learners “build new knowledge by inquiring, thinking critically, identifying problems, and developing strategies for solving problems.” Donovan encourages school librarians to connect the Inquire competencies to AI-related outcomes, such as:
- Evaluating how AI retrieves and organizes information
- Assessing the accuracy, bias and credibility of AI outputs
- Understanding the ethical use of AI-generated content
- Using AI tools to brainstorm, organize and present ideas
- Reflecting on how AI influences decision-making
School librarians don't need to start from scratch. Existing information literacy frameworks already provide a foundation for helping students navigate complex information environments. The opportunity now is to extend those familiar practices to the ways students interact with AI.
It’s Time to Prioritize AI Literacy
Students are already using AI, including for schoolwork. Researchers at Common Sense Media recently studied AI adoption by tweens and teens in the U.S. They found that 86 percent of young people ages 9–17 already use or interact with AI, and one in four do so daily. AI-generated search summaries are the most common AI experience students encounter.
Although many young people are using AI, the same study showed that only 35 percent recognized that AI cannot distinguish true information from false information. What’s more, only 51 percent said their school or teacher had discussed how to tell whether information from AI is accurate and trustworthy.
In other words, students are frequently using AI for schoolwork, but many still lack the skills to evaluate AI-generated information critically. School librarians are well positioned to help students apply the critical thinking and source evaluation skills they already teach to the world of AI.
Critical Thinking Still Matters
The goal isn't to teach students to distrust AI. It's to teach them to understand what AI can and cannot do, consider the information behind its responses and recognize when further investigation is needed.
AI can help students brainstorm ideas, summarize readings and organize information, but it cannot replace critical thinking. When used thoughtfully, it can also create opportunities for students to practice those skills (Donovan, 2026, p. 38). For example, educators can ask students to examine AI-generated responses for bias, compare conflicting perspectives and verify claims against trusted sources. Holbeck suggests that these kinds of activities can encourage students to analyze, synthesize and critically engage with information rather than simply accept an AI-generated response.
There are encouraging signs that students are already becoming more attentive to the limitations of online and AI-generated information. A 2025 Common Sense Media study found that 39 percent of teens ages 13-18 who had used AI for schoolwork had noticed problems or inaccuracies in AI outputs. And among teens who had encountered fake or deceptive content, about seven in 10 said those experiences changed how they assessed the accuracy of online information.
Students don't need less critical thinking because AI exists. On the contrary, they need more. Today's learners need opportunities to question AI-generated responses, investigate claims, compare sources and determine whether the evidence supports the information they're being given.
Conclusion
School librarians have always helped students ask thoughtful questions, find reliable sources, evaluate evidence and build informed conclusions. AI hasn't changed that mission — it has made it more important.
Helping students navigate today's information landscape requires more than teaching them where to search. It means helping them ask better questions, verify claims, evaluate evidence and think critically about the information they encounter — whether it comes from a website, a social media post or an AI-generated response.
References
Donovan, L. (2026). Inquire foundation and AI: Building knowledge through critical inquiry. Knowledge Quest, 54(3), 34–38.
