The AI revolution is moving so fast that even the most tech-savvy among us are struggling to keep up. And that’s a huge problem. While more and more organizations realize they need AI skills, the vast majority still aren’t providing the training people desperately need.
Enter SmarterX and its founder, Paul Roetzer, who just launched a major new initiative to solve exactly this problem. It’s called The AI Literacy Project, and it aims to make AI education far more accessible and personalized for professionals across every industry—not just marketing.
What is the project? And what does it mean for you?
I recently got the inside scoop from Roetzer on the project on Episode 132 of The Artificial Intelligence Show.
Why The AI Literacy Project Matters
If you’ve been paying any attention to AI, you’ll know it’s no longer a theoretical future: it’s here. Yet many of us (and our organizations) haven’t caught up.
According to Accenture, 94% of workers want to develop new AI skills, but only 5% of companies are providing training at scale. Meanwhile, Marketing AI Institute’s 2024 State of Marketing AI Report found that:
- 67% of professionals say lack of education/training is a top barrier to AI adoption.
- 75% of companies offer no AI training or education at all.
That disconnect couldn’t be more alarming. And it’s exactly what The AI Literacy Project hopes to fix.
The AI Literacy Project is an initiative to prepare individuals and organizations for the future of work by making AI education accessible and personalized through three broad pillars:
- Drive AI understanding across industries and professions through affordable education.
- Provide a path to AI mastery through content, events, and experiences.
- Personalize learning journeys to maximize the positive impact of AI on people’s careers and lives.
The AI Literacy Project is anchored in the belief that AI literacy is not just a competitive advantage, but a career and business imperative.
The AI Literacy Project is spearheaded by SmarterX, a research and education firm owned by Roetzer that is Marketing AI Institute's sister company.
The Core Principles
Roetzer’s team isn’t just dropping a few courses and calling it a day. They’re launching a long-term initiative anchored by a set of guiding principles. Here are just a few:
- AI for Everyone: Make AI education accessible to all, ideally free or extremely affordable.
- Human-Centered AI: AI should augment people, not replace them.
- Transparency and Openness: Knowledge, research, processes, and experiences should be openly shared.
- Reimagining Work: AI offers opportunities to redistribute talent, not simply cut jobs.
- Reskilling at Speed: Urgency matters. The faster AI advances, the more critical large-scale upskilling becomes.
In essence, SmarterX wants to help businesses and society harness AI’s benefits—while remaining laser-focused on the value of human creativity, knowledge, and emotion.
Three Phases of the AI Literacy Project
Roetzer outlined a phased roadmap for making all this happen:
1. Phase One (Launching Now)
- AI Mastery Membership Program: SmarterX’s existing AI courses—once sold individually—are now bundled at no extra cost for members. That includes courses like Piloting AI and Scaling AI, saving learners hundreds (or even thousands) of dollars.
- Immediate Access for Individuals: Anyone can sign up and start learning the basics of AI right now at literacyproject.ai.
2. Phase Two (Spring 2025)
- AI Academy 2.0: A new, AI-powered learning management system that offers fully personalized learning paths. Picture custom recommendations based on your role, department, and industry—like “AI for Healthcare,” “AI for Financial Services,” or “AI for Sales.”
- Gen AI App Course Series: Weekly lessons on the latest generative AI tools and agents, covering everything from productivity hacks to image creation.
- Turnkey AI Academies: Organizations can quickly roll out these resources to their entire workforce—perfect for companies that don’t have the time or expertise to build an “AI Academy” in-house.
3. Phase Three (Fall 2025 and Beyond)
- Expanded Course Catalog: Deeper dives into advanced topics: “AI for Executives,” “AI for Attorneys,” “AI for Podcasters,” “AI for Agencies,” etc.
- Industry Partnerships: SmarterX plans to partner with other organizations that share their vision for accelerating AI literacy on a broad scale.
“Society Needs This Right Now”
Roetzer calls this moment in AI a “once in a generation opportunity to reimagine everything.” In his view, the big-name AI leaders agree that the next five years will bring radical change—possibly even the advent of AGI (artificial general intelligence) or superintelligence.
"If that's the case, we have to have a far greater sense of urgency as a society to figure this stuff out and to enable more people in more professions to develop domain expertise about AI relevant to them, their career paths, and their companies," he says.
SmarterX’s goal is to meet that urgency head-on with a flexible, scalable learning system that helps:
- Individuals learn how to use AI in their personal and professional lives.
- Businesses quickly train entire teams at once.
- Society at large stay a step ahead of the AI curve.
Where to Learn More
If you’re interested in upskilling yourself or your team, check out literacyproject.ai to see what’s available now—and what’s coming soon. You’ll also find core principles, details about the membership program, and ways to partner with SmarterX.
In a world where AI capabilities are leaping forward almost daily, initiatives like the AI Literacy Project are a rare bright spot—giving people and businesses the skills they need to keep pace (and even get ahead).
It’s a mission that many will find not just ambitious, but absolutely essential.
Mike Kaput
As Chief Content Officer, Mike Kaput uses content marketing, marketing strategy, and marketing technology to grow and scale traffic, leads, and revenue for Marketing AI Institute. Mike is the co-author of Marketing Artificial Intelligence: AI, Marketing and the Future of Business (Matt Holt Books, 2022). See Mike's full bio.