Auditing AI Literacy Competency in K–12 Education: The Role of Awareness, Ethics, Evaluation, and Use in Human–Machine Cooperation

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in education highlights the growing need for AI literacy among K–12 teachers, particularly to enable effective human–machine cooperation. This study investigates Saudi K–12 educators’ AI literacy competencies across four key dimensions: awareness, ethics, evaluation, and use. Using a survey of 426 teachers and analyzing the data through descriptive statistics and structural equation modeling (SEM), this study found high overall literacy levels, with ethics scoring the highest and use slightly lower, indicating a modest gap between knowledge and application. The SEM results indicated that awareness significantly influenced ethics, evaluation, and use, positioning it as a foundational competency. Ethics also strongly predicted both evaluation and use, while evaluation contributed positively to use. These findings underscore AI literacy skills’ interconnected nature and point to the importance of integrating ethical reasoning and critical evaluation into teacher training. This study provides evidence-based guidance for educational policymakers and leaders in designing professional development programs that prepare teachers for effective and responsible AI integration in K–12 education.