The Humain
AI Literacy Framework
The AI literacy framework for K-12 students in India. Six pillars. Built on OECD, UNESCO, and EU. Aligned with NEP 2020 and NCF 2023.
A 32-page reference document, written by educators with two decades of K-12 classroom experience. Reviewed by Dr. Tapaswini Sahu (PhD JNU, M.Phil Cambridge). Free to download — no email gate.
Six Pillars
What is the Humain AI Literacy Framework?
The Humain AI Literacy Framework is a six-pillar curriculum that defines what students from Class 3 to Class 12 need to learn about artificial intelligence. It covers four capacities at once: knowing what AI is and how it works, knowing where AI fails and how to evaluate it, using AI productively without surrendering judgement, and recognising the ethical, social, and emotional stakes of doing so.
The framework is built on three global references — the OECD AI Literacy Framework, the UNESCO AI Competency Framework for Students, and the European Commission AI Literacy Framework — then rebuilt for India. It aligns with NEP 2020, NCF 2023, the NCERT skill-subject curriculum, and the CBSE, ICSE, and state-board syllabuses.
It is the curriculum behind Humain Champs, the live AI literacy course certified by E-Cell IIT Kharagpur. The full 32-page reference is published here and may be downloaded as a PDF in English and Hindi.
Authors & Reviewer
Manit Jain
AuthorM.Ed Harvard, Co-founder
Ankur Dahiya
AuthorDTU, Program Head
Dr. Tapaswini Sahu
ReviewerPhD JNU, M.Phil Cambridge
Last reviewed 28 May 2026
Why a sixth framework? Because no existing AI literacy framework was built for India's classrooms.
When we started Humain, we didn't want to write a new framework. We looked closely at the OECD's technical rigor, UNESCO's competency focus, and the EU's ethical guidelines. They are excellent pieces of scholarship. But a direct translation into an Indian classroom fails almost immediately.
Global frameworks do not account for the four-stage structure of the NCF 2023 (Foundational to Secondary). They do not map to the specific practical-exam requirements of CBSE and ICSE boards. They are not built for bilingual delivery, nor do they address the stringent requirements of India's DPDP Act 2023 for children's data. Most importantly, they do not account for the unique, high-stakes relationship Indian parents have with education and technology.
We needed a framework that could survive contact with a Class 8 classroom in Delhi. To build it, we relied on our two decades of experience running Indian K-12 schools. The pedagogical foundation is the heritage of experiential learning pioneered at Heritage Xperiential Learning Schools. The result is a synthesis: global rigor, translated into an Indian reality, and tested in live classrooms.
"We did not invent six pillars to make a logo. We arrived at six because every major framework we studied (OECD, UNESCO, the European Commission, MIT Media Lab) eventually circles the same six capacities, but none of them puts them in one place for K-12. So we did."
The six pillars of AI literacy explained
Six capacities every K-12 student must build to navigate an AI-native world — from technical understanding to human wisdom.
AI Foundations
Teaches students what AI is, how models work, and where AI fails. Foundation for every other pillar.
Ethics, Safety & Responsibility
Recognise bias, evaluate misinformation, protect data under DPDP 2023, and refuse harmful AI uses.
Learning with AI
Use AI as a study partner that sparks curiosity and deeper thinking, not as a homework shortcut.
Creating with AI
Turn imagination into images, videos, stories, and projects. Human brief. AI tools. Human judgement.
Agents & Automation
Design personal study agents with zero-code tools (n8n, ChatGPT API). Build the IIT Kharagpur capstone.
Human Intelligence in AI
EQ, metacognition, and curiosity-and-craft: the capacities AI cannot replicate. Unique to Humain.
Pillar 1. AI Foundations: knowing what AI is, how it works, and where its limits lie
AI Foundations is the technical literacy that every other pillar depends on. Without a concrete understanding of how a probability machine works, children mistake an AI's confidence for accuracy. Humain teaches them to look under the hood.
The concept coverage is rigorous but accessible. We demystify training data, distinguish between supervised learning and unsupervised approaches, and explain what model parameters actually do. Students learn how large language models process tokens, why model hallucination occurs, and how bias infects training data. We clarify the difference between classification (using a classifier) and generative AI vs predictive AI.
Learning happens through hands-on activities tailored by grade band. Class 3-5 students train a teachable machine on their own drawings. Class 6-8 students intentionally break a classifier and explain why it failed. Class 9-10 students prompt ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude simultaneously and compare the outputs. Class 11-12 students read a live model card and critique its safety parameters.
This pillar directly maps to the OECD's "Technical Literacy", UNESCO's "Conceptual Understanding", and the EU's "AI Understanding".
| Grade band | What students learn | Tools used |
|---|---|---|
| Class 3 to Class 5 | Pattern recognition, simple classifiers, "AI is not a brain" | Teachable Machine, NotebookLM (read-only) |
| Class 6 to Class 8 | Training data, why models invent facts, bias | ChatGPT, Gemini, classifier exercises |
| Class 9 to Class 10 | Model evaluation, prompt iteration | ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, comparison rubrics |
| Class 11 to Class 12 | Model cards, architecture basics, prompt engineering | Multiple LLMs, NotebookLM, Perplexity |
Pillar 2. Ethics, Safety and Responsibility: critical awareness of bias, misinformation, privacy, and digital well-being
This pillar moves beyond technical understanding into the ethical, social, and emotional stakes of AI deployment. It is structured around four sub-areas: bias and fairness, misinformation and deepfakes, privacy and data protection (specifically the DPDP Act 2023, alongside GDPR and COPPA principles), and digital well-being.
We ground these concepts in India-specific cases. Students analyse bias in admissions algorithms using real examples modelled on IITs and IIMs. They examine deepfake misuse cases reported in The Hindu and Hindustan Times. We tackle school WhatsApp group safety, the hidden costs of AI homework helpers, and the mechanics of data harvesting. The focus is always on privacy by design and model misuse prevention.
The practical pedagogy relies on case-based learning, Socratic seminars, and role-play exercises, forcing students to negotiate competing interests (e.g., utility versus parental consent) rather than memorising rules. This approach, reviewed by Dr. Tapaswini Sahu, directly connects to her research on adolescent metacognition—equipping students with the self-regulatory skills needed for true AI safety.
"Children meet AI in places adults rarely think about. The job of this pillar is to make sure they meet it with the questions, not just the tool."
Pillar 3. Learning with AI: using AI as a study partner that sparks curiosity, not as a shortcut
The goal of this pillar is to navigate the "long middle" frame: the productive space between "I will not touch AI" and "AI did my homework". We teach students how to use AI for summarisation, retrieval, and active recall without compromising their own cognitive effort.
The tactics evolve by grade band. Class 6-8 students use AI to generate spaced repetition flashcards. Class 9-10 students use NotebookLM on textbook PDFs to build a closed-system RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) study buddy for CBSE/ICSE board prep. Class 11-12 students use ChatGPT and prompt engineering to interrogate their practice answers against marking schemes.
A core competency here is citation hygiene. Students must "show their work" when they use AI assistance, learning how to document their prompts and AI inputs transparently. Before accepting any AI output, students are trained on a four-question protocol: Where did this come from? Who decided this is true? What is missing? Is this the right kind of answer for my question?
| Using AI well | Using AI badly |
|---|---|
| NotebookLM summarises chapter, student compares to textbook | ChatGPT writes the essay, student copies |
| ChatGPT generates practice questions for board exam | ChatGPT answers the board exam questions |
| Student asks "why" three times before accepting an answer | Student accepts the first confident answer |
Pillar 4. Creating with AI: turning imagination into images, videos, stories, and projects. Human-first, AI-second.
This pillar shifts students from consumers of generative AI to directors of it. We teach prompt engineering not as a coding exercise, but as a discipline of creative articulation. The tool stack is professional-grade: Midjourney and Canva AI for image generation, Krea for real-time visual exploration, Suno for music, ElevenLabs for voice synthesis, and Runway for video generation.
The capstone of this module is a one-minute AI-generated video commercial. Students learn that the AI does the rendering, but the human does the work. They are graded on the brief writing process, their creative direction, and their editorial judgement in assembling the final cut.
We heavily emphasise AI ethics in creative work. Students learn the mechanics of attribution and credit—understanding when a piece of derivative work crosses the line, when they must declare "made with AI", and when the AI is simply a brush in their hand.
Crucially, we root this in the Indian creative context. Students practice generating regional language voice work, culturally accurate festival visuals, and prompts that navigate Western-biased training data to produce authentically Indian output.
Student creation showcase
See real student AI creations from Humain ChampsPillar 5. Agents and Automation: designing personal study agents that extend human capabilities
This pillar represents the pedagogical leap from AI user to AI maker. We introduce students to autonomous AI and automation, shifting from simple prompts to multi-step task execution. The capstone connection is direct: this pillar culminates in the final Humain Champs module and serves as the submission for the E-Cell IIT Kharagpur Hackathon capstone.
The tool stack reflects professional environments. Students use n8n for workflow orchestration and the ChatGPT API for reasoning. They integrate Google Sheets and Notion as data sources, and deploy their agents via WhatsApp and Telegram as delivery channels.
We teach this through worked examples of real student projects from Humain Champs. Strict ethical guardrails are embedded into the engineering process: students must design agents that respect privacy by design, escalate edge cases to humans, and do not make irreversible decisions without oversight.
4Real student agents built in Humain Champs
Amayerah
All subjects · Class 9
AI Study Companion for CBSE Grade 9
Diya Gosain
History · Class 8
AI History Tutor for Class 8
Tanay Mohan
English · Class 10 & 11
AI Essay Writing Assistant
Avanindra Kumar Singh
Chemistry · Class 11 & 12
AI Chemistry Assistant
Pillar 6. Human Intelligence in the Age of AI: the capacities AI cannot replicate
No other AI literacy framework names this pillar. Every other framework ends at technical competency and ethical awareness. We don't. We ask: after a student learns what AI can do, what does that mean for what she must become? Our answer is three sub-pillars grounded in academic research.
The first sub-pillar is emotional intelligence, built on Goleman's research into the five components: self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills. We teach these not as abstract capacities but as practical tools for working alongside AI systems that simulate empathy without possessing it.
The second is metacognition, grounded in Flavell's (1979) foundational research on thinking about thinking. We teach students to interrogate their own reasoning process, especially in moments when an AI has given a confident but wrong answer.
The third is curiosity-and-craft, grounded in Csikszentmihalyi's research on creativity and flow. We make a direct argument to students: the most AI-proof skill is the relentless curiosity to ask the question that hasn't been asked yet, and the patience to do the work that produces something genuinely new.
"We made Pillar 6 the spine of our framework because every other competency eventually bottoms out into a human choice. And that choice requires a human who knows herself."
Academic foundations for Pillar 6
How does the Humain framework compare to OECD, UNESCO, and the EU?
Global frameworks are the foundation. This table shows what Humain adds for India.
| Capacity | Humain | OECD | UNESCO | EU |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Technical understanding of AI | ✓ Pillar 1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Ethics and responsibility | ✓ Pillar 2 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Learning with AI as study partner | ✓ Pillar 3 | Partial | Partial | — |
| Creating with AI tools | ✓ Pillar 4 | — | ✓ | — |
| Designing AI agents and automation | ✓ Pillar 5 | — | Partial | — |
| Human intelligence: EQ, metacognition, curiosity | ✓ Pillar 6 | — | — | — |
| India-specific curriculum alignment (CBSE, ICSE, NEP) | ✓ Full | — | — | — |
| DPDP Act 2023 compliance | ✓ Full | — | — | — |
| Bilingual delivery (English and Hindi) | ✓ Full | — | — | — |
Sources: OECD AI Literacy Framework (2023); UNESCO AI Competency Framework for Students (2023); European Commission AI Literacy Framework (2022).
Research foundations and academic references
The Humain framework is built on nine primary academic and policy sources. The full bibliography is in the 32-page PDF.
- 1.
OECD (2023). OECD AI Literacy Framework. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Paris.
- 2.
UNESCO (2023). AI Competency Framework for Students. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Paris.
- 3.
European Commission (2022). AI Literacy Framework. Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture, Brussels.
- 4.
Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ. Bantam Books, New York.
- 5.
Flavell, J. H. (1979). Metacognition and cognitive monitoring: A new area of cognitive-developmental inquiry. American Psychologist, 34(10), 906–911.
- 6.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1996). Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention. Harper Collins, New York.
- 7.
Sahu, T. (2024). Metacognitive Awareness in Adolescent Learning in Indian Secondary Schools. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
- 8.
Ministry of Education, Government of India (2020). National Education Policy 2020. Ministry of Education, New Delhi.
- 9.
NCERT (2023). National Curriculum Framework for School Education 2023. National Council of Educational Research and Training, New Delhi.
Indian curriculum mapping: NEP 2020, NCF 2023, CBSE, ICSE, and state boards
The Humain framework was designed against the Indian curriculum from the start, not retrofitted. The full 24-page mapping deck is a free download from this page.
NEP 2020
The Humain framework satisfies the digital fluency and computational thinking strands of NEP 2020. Pillars 1, 3, and 5 map directly to the NEP 2020 competencies for the 21st-century Indian learner.
NCF 2023
The full Humain framework is structured around the four NCF 2023 stages: Foundational (Class 1–2), Preparatory (Class 3–5), Middle (Class 6–8), and Secondary (Class 9–12). Schools using NCF 2023 as their transition framework can embed Humain as the AI literacy component without additional structural work.
CBSE AI (codes 417 and 843)
Pillars 1, 4, and 5 align directly with the CBSE AI syllabus for Class 9-10 (code 417) and Class 11-12 (code 843). The Humain capstone assessment can be submitted as the CBSE practical component without modification.
ICSE Computer Applications and AI electives
Pillars 1, 3, and 5 map to the ICSE Computer Applications curriculum and the ICSE AI elective. Schools running parallel CBSE and ICSE streams can run a single Humain programme across both without redundancy.
State boards
Current cross-walked alignments include the Maharashtra State Board, Tamil Nadu State Board, and Karnataka SSLC. Gujarat, Telangana, and West Bengal alignments are in active development.
NCERT skill-subject framework
The Humain assessment rubrics align with the NCERT skill-subject framework for Computer Science and AI. Schools using NCERT textbooks as primary references can integrate Humain modules without textbook replacement.
How to use the Humain AI Literacy Framework: a guide for parents, teachers, students, and schools
The framework is a public document. Here is how each stakeholder can put it to use today.
For Parents
- 1
Use Pillar 2 (Ethics, Safety and Responsibility) as a conversation starter with your child about what she shares with AI tools.
- 2
Use Pillar 3 (Learning with AI) to evaluate whether your child is using AI to think harder or think less.
- 3
Use Pillar 6 (Human Intelligence) as a mirror: are you modelling the curiosity and emotional intelligence you want her to build?
- 4
Use the framework to evaluate any AI literacy programme your school is offering. If it doesn't cover all six pillars, ask why.
For Teachers
- 1
Map the framework against your current syllabus using the 24-page curriculum mapping deck (free download below).
- 2
Use the Pillar 1 grade-band table to identify the appropriate entry point for your class.
- 3
Design a single assessed task that spans Pillars 1 and 2 before introducing Pillars 3 and 4.
- 4
Use the Pillar 6 rubric to add a reflection component to every AI-assisted assignment.
For Students
- 1
Start with Pillar 2. Before you use any AI tool, you should be able to answer: what does this tool know about me, and should it?
- 2
Use Pillar 3 as a study protocol. Every time you use ChatGPT or Gemini, you must ask three follow-up questions before you accept the output.
- 3
Build towards Pillar 5. The Humain Champs capstone project — your personalised AI Study Agent — is yours to keep forever.
- 4
Read Pillar 6 last, and read it carefully. It is the answer to the question your parents are already asking.
For Schools
- 1
Download the 24-page curriculum mapping deck. Check how many of your current AI-related activities map to the six pillars.
- 2
Identify your coverage gaps. Most schools cover Pillars 1 and 2 in some form. Almost none cover Pillars 5 and 6.
- 3
Request a free 60-minute curriculum-mapping workshop with the Humain team. We will map your current provision against the six pillars and identify the fastest path to full coverage.
- 4
Consider the Humain school programme as the AI literacy component of your NEP 2020 or NCF 2023 transition plan.
The three-phase AI literacy learning pathway: Assess, Learn, Apply
The Humain framework is a document. The pathway is how you act on it.
Where are you now?
Begin with our free online diagnostic. Students answer 20 questions that measure their baseline across all six pillars. Parents receive a personalised AI Literacy Report Card showing strengths, gaps, and the recommended starting point.
- Free diagnostic (20 mins)
- AI Literacy Report Card
- Personalised pillar gap map
Build all six pillars.
Humain Champs is a 16-hour live programme delivered in small cohorts over 8 weeks. Six modules map to the six pillars. Sessions run twice a week, 2 hours each, with a live instructor and a maximum of 15 students per cohort. The programme concludes with a capstone project: a personalised AI Study Agent built by the student using professional tools.
- 16 hours of live instruction
- Max 15 students per cohort
- E-Cell IIT Kharagpur certificate
Use AI in the real world.
After Humain Champs, students join the Humain alumni network and receive access to the Humain Champs WhatsApp community, monthly AI tool briefings, the E-Cell IIT Kharagpur Hackathon invitation, and early access to new Humain programmes for Class 11 and 12.
- Alumni network access
- Monthly AI tool briefings
- Hackathon invitation
Real outcomes: what students say after completing the framework
One quote from a real student for each of the six pillars.
“Before Humain Champs, I used ChatGPT like a search engine. Now I interrogate it like a witness. That shift happened in week two of Pillar 1.”
“Pillar 2 changed how I talk to my parents about their WhatsApp forwards. I showed my mother how to check an AI-generated image for artifacts. She was stunned.”
“My NotebookLM setup for Class 12 board prep is the most useful thing I've built in school. Pillar 3 gave me the protocol.”
“I directed a one-minute AI film for our school's annual day. The AI did the rendering. The story was mine. Pillar 4 made me understand that distinction.”
“My AI Study Agent for Chemistry has answered more than 400 of my questions this semester. It knows my weak topics because I designed it to track them.”
“Pillar 6 was the hardest session and the most important one. I had no answer to the question 'what can you do that AI cannot?' Now I have three.”
Download the Humain AI Literacy Framework
32-page PDF. Free. No email gate. No follow-up spam. Available in English and Hindi.
English
PDF, 2.4 MB
The Humain AI Literacy Framework (English)
32 pages. Six pillars. Grade-band outcomes. Curriculum mapping for CBSE, ICSE, NEP 2020, NCF 2023. Research bibliography. Author and reviewer credentials.
Download PDF (EN)Hindi
PDF, 2.6 MB
ह्यूमेन एआई साक्षरता ढाँचा (हिंदी)
32 पृष्ठ। छह स्तंभ। ग्रेड-बैंड परिणाम। सीबीएसई, आईसीएसई, एनईपी 2020, एनसीएफ 2023 के लिए पाठ्यक्रम मानचित्रण।
Download PDF (HI)The Humain AI Literacy Framework is published under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. You may share and adapt it for non-commercial educational purposes with attribution to Humain Learning AI (humainlearning.ai/framework).
Frequently asked questions about the Humain AI Literacy Framework
The framework is the map.
Humain Champs is how your child walks it.
Six pillars. Built on OECD, UNESCO, and EU. Aligned with NEP 2020 and NCF 2023. Tested in Indian classrooms. Free to download. Choose what's right for you.
humainlearning.ai/framework · Last reviewed 28 May 2026 · Dr. Tapaswini Sahu, PhD JNU, M.Phil Cambridge
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