Artificial intelligence is becoming an integral part of modern society, permeating virtually all spheres of societal activity. This process has also impacted the field of education, including the area of developing functional literacy among schoolchildren. The spread of digitization leads to transformation and the emergence of new forms of activity for participants in the educational process.

Education must meet the demands of modern society and must be continuously improved to enhance the competitiveness of both the education system and school graduates. The relevance of the topic under consideration lies in the need to formulate, based on societal demand, the key areas in which students should first improve their knowledge acquisition, skill development, and competency formation. The competitiveness of the Russian Federation as a whole depends on the quality of education its citizens receive. The functional literacy of the country's citizens can guarantee the comprehensive development of Russia.

The concept of "literacy" is currently understood as a functional category: it is the ability of a person to solve tasks of various levels. Functional literacy makes a person a professional in a specific area and allows them to navigate their environment and social surroundings quickly.

The research aimed to address the following questions: What is functional literacy? Why is it necessary to possess functional literacy? How can functional literacy in students be developed using artificial intelligence?

Materials and Methods. During the work on this topic, definitions of functional literacy, competence, and artificial intelligence were analyzed to identify aspects of their consideration in scientific and methodological literature. An attempt was made to determine the pathways and characteristics of forming functional literacy in schoolchildren using artificial intelligence. Problems were identified, and solutions were proposed.

The application of artificial intelligence can assist in successfully addressing several tasks, the primary one being the formation and development of students' learning success. Among the parameters of functional literacy are general literacy, information literacy, computer literacy, and communicative literacy, as well as proficiency in a foreign language at an adequate level. These aspects begin to form in individuals during their general education process. As students work on their overall literacy, they acquire the norms of modern Russian literary language, and the ability to write essays, summaries, reports, as well as respond to questions without difficulty in constructing phrases, selecting words, writing applications, filling out forms, and questionnaires, etc. Computer and information literacy imply that students should be able to search for information on the internet, as well as access library resources and media, using reliable, authoritative sources and names.

The theoretical significance of the research conducted and described in the article lies in the development of techniques for applying artificial intelligence in the process of forming functional literacy in schoolchildren. The practical significance is that the results of this research can be used in the practical activities of educators.

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, Functional Literacy, Education, Schoolchildren, Digitalization.