About the Foundation

Why we exist

Most information about artificial intelligence is made for people who are already looking for it. Millions never begin, because nobody has shown them what it could mean in their own work, home, or community. They don’t yet know what to ask.

Others have watched it produce a confidently wrong answer, or heard about voices being cloned and families being scammed, and concluded it has nothing for them.

The problem isn’t that people can’t learn. It’s that they have never had an introduction they trust. AI Literacy Foundation exists for the moment before someone knows what to ask.

Our story

The Foundation began with one conversation. A founding director had heard about artificial intelligence but had never used it, and didn’t see how it could possibly help him. When the conversation connected it to something he actually cared about — his own work — it clicked. Within minutes he was thinking about everyone else he knew who was missing it.

Nobody had ever shown him, because nobody knew he needed showing. That became our model: we make the introduction; each person makes the connection.

What we do

We publish. Free, plain-language guides: what AI actually is, how to use it for ordinary things, where it fails, how to recognize AI-enabled fraud and impersonation, and what to do in the first hour after harm — who to call, what to say, and what deadlines apply.

We report. Public-interest reporting on how these tools are being used, and misused, against people who are rarely asked first.

We introduce. Guided conversations and demonstrations that help one person find one use for AI that matters in their own life. This is the newest part of our work, and the part we are building most deliberately.

We meet people where they read, watch, and listen. Written guides for anyone who wants the detail — and, as we grow, audio, video, and interactive formats. This technology isn’t only something to read about. You have to see it, hear it, and try it before it means anything.

We speak and convene. Sessions hosted by libraries, senior centers, veterans’ organizations, and disability and accessibility groups, and talks for community and professional audiences.

We advocate. As our capacity allows, comments to public agencies so that older adults, veterans, people with disabilities, and disadvantaged communities are in the record when decisions about these technologies get made.

We are not trying to make anyone an expert. Our first outcome is the moment it clicks — when someone who began with “AI isn’t for me” can name one way it might help in their own life, and one place where human judgment still matters. When it clicks, we ask them to pay it forward and show the next person.

Who we serve

Everything we make is free and open to anyone, at any age or starting point. We pay particular attention to older adults, military veterans, people with disabilities, and disadvantaged communities — people for whom this technology could expand independence and opportunity, and who are too often reached last.

Some people come to us curious. Some come because something felt off — a strange call, a message that didn’t add up. Many come on behalf of someone else: a parent, a friend, a neighbor they look out for. All of them are welcome.

How we make these guides

We draft with AI assistance, and every guide is reviewed, edited, and fact-checked by a person before it is published. We tell you that plainly, for two reasons.

The first is that we teach people to ask where information came from, and it would be absurd to duck the question ourselves. The second is that it’s the same practice we recommend to you throughout these guides: use AI to draft, keep the judgment human, and verify anything that matters. We’re using the tools the way we think they should be used, in public, where you can see it.

Every guide carries the date it was last reviewed. Where a guide points to authoritative help — a government reporting line, a consumer-protection agency — we link to the source so you never have to take our word for it. And when we get something wrong, tell us: we’ll correct it and say that we did.

Bylines

Our reference guides are published under the Foundation’s name rather than individual bylines. Original reporting is different and carries a name — if we publish interviews, public records work, or an account of something happening in a community, the journalist who did the work is credited. Reporting should be accountable to a person, and good reporting deserves the credit.

Why our materials don’t cost anything

It’s a fair question, and the answer is ordinary: we’re a registered charity. Our board serves without pay, and no director or officer receives compensation. Today the work is done by volunteers and funded by grants and donations; as we grow, membership and revenue we earn from our own work may support it as well. What that money buys is keeping the guides free to the person who needs them.

We are vendor-independent. No advertising. No affiliate links, and no payment ever accepted for mentioning a tool or company. We don’t sell or share information about our readers, and we disclose funding or relationships that could affect our work.

Verify us

You shouldn’t have to trust an organization you just found on the internet — particularly one that writes about fraud. So we’ve made ourselves checkable.

Full transparency page →

Because we are new

We were recognized by the IRS in 2026, and some places you might check us will still come up empty for a while. We would rather tell you that than have you wonder.

Contact

Questions, corrections, documentation requests, or an offer to help: info@theailiteracyfoundation.org. If you spot an error in a guide, please tell us — we’ll fix it.