BEYOND INSTRUMENTAL USE: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, LANGUAGE, AND THE LIMITS OF DIGITAL LITERACY IN CONTEMPORARY EDUCATION

Abstract

The expansion of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in educational contexts has frequently been associated with the strengthening of digital literacy and the formation of critical citizens. However, many of these approaches remain grounded in instrumental conceptions of technology and literacy, centered on the technical mastery of tools and functional adaptation to digital environments. This article, grounded in a theoretical-critical perspective, problematizes this view by arguing that digital literacy, as it has been widely conceived, proves insufficient to address the pedagogical, ethical, and formative challenges posed by the growing automation of education. Drawing on authors who understand literacy as a social practice, digital culture as a space of symbolic disputes, and information ethics as a formative principle, the text analyzes Artificial Intelligence as a sociotechnical mediation that reshapes language practices, authorship, and pedagogical decision-making. It is argued that preparing for the critical use of AI requires a conceptual shift from instrumental digital literacy toward critical digital literacy, capable of addressing the discursive, political, and educational impacts of automation in teaching and learning processes, while reaffirming the centrality of teacher mediation and human formation in contemporary education.