In short
A test of AI knowledge and skill with right and wrong answers, including a part on generative AI. Use it when you want a test, not a self-rating, and need questions on tools like chat assistants.
For whoever runs the assessment: an HR or operations lead, an internal project team, or an outside consultant.
What it measures
AI literacy, tested and not self-rated. It includes a part on generative AI, the kind of AI behind chat assistants.
The authors built it as an answer to a known weakness. Most AI-literacy questionnaires ask people to rate themselves, and people rate themselves poorly.
How to use it
- Use the full version until the short one has been tested further.
- Keep it anonymous and report by team.
- Pair it with a self-rating and look at the gap.
See test AI knowledge instead of asking staff to rate their own.
What it does not measure
- Skill in a particular job.
- Attitudes, confidence or trust.
How it was tested
The authors developed and tested the scale in the study that introduces it. A short version exists, and the authors call it preliminary.
Licence and access
The article is open access under CC BY 4.0. The language of the test questions and their number are not established.
Alternatives
Other assessments with a similar job, and when to prefer each.
- What do staff know about AI? Scale of Artificial Intelligence Literacy for All (SAIL4ALL) Prefer it when you want the more fully tested knowledge test, in four parts you can use separately. Staff, each taking a test · 56 questions in 4 parts. Each part can be used on its own Free to use and adapt
- How do staff rate their own AI skills and their confidence to learn? Meta AI Literacy Scale (MAILS) Prefer it when you want a self-rating to compare with test results. Staff, each rating their own skills · 34 questions, or 10 in the short version Free to use, ask before changing
Practices that use it
- Train staff on the tools you actually chose Show every user what your chosen AI tool is, where it goes wrong, and what they must check. Use your own tasks and your own rules, give people time to practise, and include temporary staff. Do first · Effort: medium (weeks, a few people)
- Test AI knowledge instead of asking staff to rate their own People judge their own skills poorly. To find out what your staff know about AI, use a short knowledge test or a second opinion, not only a self-rating. Do next · Effort: medium (weeks, a few people)
The details
- Testing
- Developed and tested by its authors in one published study. The short version is described by the authors as preliminary.
- Looks at
- Person
- How the answers are collected
- A test with right and wrong answers.
- Length
- A full version and a short version. The number of questions is not established.
- Cost
- Free
- Licence
- CC BY 4.0You may translate and adapt the test if you credit the authors.
- Languages
- Not established. The test was developed in Germany and published in an English-language journal.
- By
- Markus, Carolus and Wienrich, 2025
Sources
- Markus, Carolus and Wienrich (2025). Objective measurement of AI literacy: Development and validation of the AI competency objective scale (AICOS). Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence. doi:10.1016/j.caeai.2025.100485
Related studies on this site
- A review of 16 questionnaires that measure AI knowledge Lintner (2024). A systematic review of AI literacy scales. npj Science of Learning, 9, 50.
- Self-rated digital skills versus test results in 629 students Luna, Ocaña, Ortiz-Colón and Rodríguez Moreno (2026). From Self-Perception to Reality in Digital Competence: Findings from the DigComp 2.2 Framework. The Electronic Journal of e-Learning, 24(3), 137–153.