Do We Need a Driver's License to Use AI?

"In 1966, the United States introduced mandatory safety standards for motor vehicles after 49,000 Americans died in car accidents that year. The solution wasn't to ban cars; it was to require driver's licenses. If you wanted to operate something that could harm yourself and others, you needed to prove you understood how it worked. Today, artificial intelligence (AI) presents a similar challenge."

"A meaningful DDL would require double literacy, combining two forms of knowledge: Human literacy means understanding yourself and society. This includes critical thinking, ethical reasoning, recognizing bias and power dynamics, and knowing your own cognitive limitations. Without this, you're just a sophisticated parrot, technically capable but unable to judge whether you should do what you can do. Algorithmic literacy involves understanding how AI actually works."

In 1966 the United States adopted mandatory vehicle safety standards after 49,000 Americans died in car accidents and required driver's licenses rather than banning cars. Artificial intelligence now presents a comparable challenge as it spreads to billions of devices with virtually no gatekeeping. Eighty-six percent of students use AI in schoolwork and the World Economic Forum classifies AI literacy as essential for democratic participation. A digital driver's license should require human literacy—critical thinking, ethical reasoning, bias recognition, and self-awareness—and algorithmic literacy—understanding training data biases, pattern recognition limits, and AI hallucinations.

Read at Psychology Today