From Anxiety to Agency: Artificial Intelligence Adoption for Media and Information Literacy Among Adult Secondary Students

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Media and Information Literacy (MIL) are recognised as vital components of adult secondary education. However, we know little about how adult learners engage with AI in authentic educational contexts, given that AI adoption is a complex sociotechnical process. In this study, AI for MIL (AI/MIL) refers to AI-supported tools that guide learners in interpreting and engaging with digital media and information. We report findings from an ethnographic study involving eight adult students in Greek secondary education. Informed by the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), we followed participants over an eight-month educational intervention through participant observation, interviews, and field notes. Our data show that learners moved from anxiety toward more agentic forms of AI engagement. This ethnographic reinterpretation of UTAUT highlights an interplay among technological, emotional, and sociocultural factors that shape AI/MIL adoption. Beyond traditional technology acceptance models, we underscore negotiated trust, critical AI literacy, ethical awareness, and human agency within AI-mediated information ecosystems. These findings have implications for designing participatory, transparent, and ethically grounded AI initiatives in educational settings.