Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) is moving to embed artificial intelligence literacy across its entire student body, aligning with a new statewide push from Kentucky's Council on Postsecondary Education. A task force from the council recently emphasized a goal to make every college student in Kentucky fluent in AI, and EKU's existing programs provide a working model for that effort.
"Focus on student AI literacy," said Dr. Lisa Blue, EKU's director of AI strategies, who is working with the state-funded group to spread her AI proficiency pathway across all Kentucky higher education institutions.
The process over the tool
Blue's approach does not treat AI as a shortcut. It centers on how AI works, which tool to choose for a given task, and assignment design that requires students to explain their thinking. She wants students to answer specific questions about their process.
"Where can the student tell us about the decisions they made? Where can they reflect on the use of AI? Did it help? Did it hinder? Was it a waste of time?" Blue said.
Resistance to the work is common. "I get pushback all the time," Blue said. But EKU's commitment to AI in the classroom is not new. "We offered our first pre-semester symposium on using AI in higher education effectively four years ago this month," she added.
A cross-disciplinary model
Last spring, Blue's philosophy was put into practice in a course called "Living with AI," which she co-taught with Dr. Perry Winslow. Winslow leads the AI Pathway in Essential Education, a program that offers students multiple classes with AI as a major part of the curriculum, taught from different disciplinary perspectives.
"Every discipline has something to say about AI," Winslow said. He argued that this cross-disciplinary structure gives EKU students a distinct advantage. "They will have a view of AI that is much more nuanced, complicated, in depth than maybe any other student in Kentucky."
For educators looking to build similar frameworks, resources on AI for Education can help shape curriculum design. Training pathways such as AI for Teachers offer practical grounding for instructors integrating these tools into their courses.
The workforce imperative
Blue frames the entire initiative around a practical question of career readiness. The stakes, she said, are straightforward.
"If we aren't teaching our students the appropriate AI skills, are we really preparing them for the workplace?" Blue said.
Why this matters for education professionals
EKU's model shows that building AI literacy at scale requires a deliberate shift in assignment design, not just adding a new tool to the syllabus. The emphasis on student reflection - documenting decisions, assessing whether AI helped or hindered - gives faculty a concrete template for maintaining academic rigor while teaching skills employers are already demanding. For administrators and curriculum designers, the cross-disciplinary pathway structure offers a replicable framework that avoids siloing AI instruction in a single department.
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