The Wise Five Manifesto

Nobody should have to figure out AI alone

An open letter, open for signatures. London, 2026.

A year ago, people asked "have you tried AI yet?" Now the question is different: do you know what you're doing with it?

In eighteen months, AI became a co-worker, a tutor, a research partner. It's in your homework, your inbox, your job, your group chats. Hundreds of millions of people started using it. Almost nobody was shown how.

What we think

Using AI well is a skill. Knowing when to reach for it and when not to. Reading what it gives you with a careful eye. Staying curious about what it can do and honest about what it can't.

You can't get this skill from a training course alone, any more than you can learn to drive from a slideshow. It's built through use: trying things, noticing what works, adjusting. So the useful question isn't "have your people done the training?" It's "where are they now, and what should they try next?"

That can be measured. And nobody is measuring it. We checked. Not government, not schools, not employers. So we built it ourselves.

Five levels: Curious, Capable, Fluent, Pathfinder, Trailblazer. Three habits: how you Think, how you Explore, how you Adapt. Five minutes to find out where you are.

What we're asking

Start here. Take five minutes and find out where you stand. There's no failing. There's just where you are now, and where you could go next.

A few simple questions. Your level, your strengths, and what to try next.

And to the people who run things: we're asking companies to take this seriously, not treat it as a training box to tick. We're asking schools to teach it, not just police it. We're asking government to measure how well people can use AI, not just how many have access to it.

Every person who takes the test adds to a bigger picture of how we are all actually using AI. We'll publish what we find, every year, for anyone to use.

WISE FIVE is collaboration between a working group of educators, technologists, policy people and builders who agreed that AI literacy deserves a standard - and put their name to it.

  • Louise BallardAI Capability
  • David BellLeadership and Executive Search
  • Tim FlaggAI Policy and Standards
  • Claudia HarrisAI and Workforce Skills
  • Mackenzie HoweAI Capability
  • Amy JordanRegulation and Public Policy
  • Aaron KalvaniAI and International Development
  • Laura KnightAI and Education
  • David LaneDigital and Technology
  • Sumathi MenonAI and Inclusion
  • Julia StammAI and Gender Equality
  • Victoria TomlinsonExperienced Workforce
  • James UttingFinancial Services

All signed in our personal capacity.

If you feel the same, add your name.

If you build, teach, hire, regulate or just care about how people learn to use AI, sign the manifesto. We'll publish the list. We'll only email you about Wise Five, never to sell anything.

Take the quiz