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Share AI’s benefits by starting with a real local need, helping people learn to use AI critically and responsibly, and giving residents accessible ways to shape and review decisions. A tool or workshop alone is not enough: participation should work for people with different levels of digital access, confidence, language, and ability.

Start with a community need, not a technology pitch

Ask residents and frontline workers what task, service, or barrier they want to address. That might mean understanding information, improving access to a service, or reducing a routine burden. Define the need before choosing an AI tool, and include the people who experience the problem in deciding whether AI is appropriate.

This keeps the work grounded in local priorities rather than assuming that adopting AI will automatically improve community life. The right approach will depend on local circumstances; national and international guidance offers principles to adapt, not a ready-made plan for every community.

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Teach practical AI literacy

AI literacy is more than knowing how to enter a prompt. The 2026 OECD and European Commission AI Literacy Framework describes it as knowledge, skills, and attitudes that help learners understand how AI systems work, critically evaluate their outputs, and use them ethically and creatively. The framework is designed for primary and secondary education, so community groups should adapt its principles rather than treat it as an adult community curriculum.

Useful learning sessions can cover:

  • What the AI tool does, what information it uses, and where it may be unreliable.
  • How to check important claims against trustworthy sources instead of accepting an output at face value.
  • What personal or sensitive information should not be entered into the tool.
  • Ethical considerations and situations where a person, not an AI system, should make the final decision.
  • How to use AI creatively and practically without confusing a generated answer with verified fact.

UNESCO’s 2021 Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence calls for public awareness and understanding through accessible education, civic engagement, digital skills, AI ethics, and media and information literacy. It also emphasizes involving community leaders and other groups in that work. Read UNESCO’s Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence.

Make access and participation genuinely inclusive

People cannot benefit from or influence AI initiatives if the only way to join is through a digital platform they cannot access or use confidently. UNESCO calls for inclusive access that accounts for linguistic and cultural diversity, disability, and disadvantage, and for action to address digital divides. OECD guidance on citizen participation likewise recommends in-person or low-tech alternatives when limited digital access or skills could exclude people.

Plan participation around the people you hope to reach:

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  • Use plain language and examples that make sense in the local context.
  • Consider language access, disability access, cultural context, connectivity, and differing levels of digital skill.
  • Offer in-person or low-tech ways to ask questions, learn, and provide feedback when an online channel would be a barrier.
  • Invite residents to help set priorities and assess whether the activity responds to their needs.

These are practical ways to put UNESCO’s call for informed public participation into action. UNESCO’s recommendation highlights accessible education and civic engagement as routes to public understanding and participation.

Build a network that can learn and adapt

Bring together residents, community organizations, educators, and relevant public services to share examples, discuss problems, and improve how the work is done. OECD describes communities of practice and networks as ways to exchange expertise, surface common problems, and share feedback. Its examples concern government organizations, but community groups can adapt the idea to their own setting. See the OECD report on governing with artificial intelligence.

A regular meeting, shared discussion space, or series of workshops can help people compare what they have learned and raise concerns before an approach becomes routine. Make sure the network includes people affected by the decisions—not only organizations introducing or administering a tool.

Check the capacity behind the activity

Training cannot resolve every obstacle. UNESCO’s analysis of public-sector AI identifies organizational capacity, data and infrastructure, and human-resource capacity as barriers. OECD guidance also points to digital infrastructure and mechanisms for sharing AI knowledge. These sources focus on government, so they do not establish what any particular community group lacks; they are useful prompts for checking what support is needed.

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  • Is there reliable access to the digital tools and connectivity the activity requires?
  • Does the organization have the time and skills to support participants and maintain the work?
  • Are there clear ways to share knowledge and handle questions or problems as they arise?

UNESCO’s discussion of AI in the public sector describes capacity challenges; OECD’s work on applying its AI principles discusses enabling conditions including infrastructure and knowledge sharing.

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Review who benefits and who is left out

Check the initiative with the people it is intended to serve. Ask who was unable to participate, whose needs were missed, and whether the activity improved access—or simply moved a service online. Use what you learn to revise the format, examples, support, or underlying approach. Participation is meaningful when residents can influence priorities and give feedback, not just attend a demonstration.

OECD guidance on citizen participation emphasizes the risk that limited skills or digital access can exclude people. Read the OECD Guidelines for Citizen Participation Processes alongside UNESCO’s guidance on inclusion and public participation.

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