This paper presents an ongoing initiative led by researchers from the Research Institute for Artificial Intelligence ”Mihai Drăgănescu” of the Romanian Academy, aiming to popularize Artificial Intelligence (AI) in schools across Romania (middle schools and high schools). The project focuses on introducing students to foundational AI concepts while highlighting emerging technologies, with a particular emphasis on Large Language Models (LLMs) and their growing impact on society. Through interactive workshops, hands-on experiments, and open discussions, scientists engaged with students and teachers aim to demystify AI, and raise awareness about its ethical and practical implications.

The program emphasizes the relevance of LLMs in everyday applications from chatbots to content generation and encourages critical thinking about their use. By bridging the gap between cutting-edge AI research, such as the recent Large Language Models for the European Union (LLMs4EU) project, and pre-university education, our initiative contributes to building a more AI-literate generation prepared to navigate and shape the digital future.

Moreover, the authors present the results of an AI literacy questionnaire that describes high school students' affective, behavioral, cognitive, and ethical understanding of AI, providing insights into their knowledge, attitudes, and responsible use of the technology.

We present both quantitative and qualitative analyses of the questionnaire results. Finally, we argue how this initiative is enhancing STEAM education by integrating Artificial Intelligence into the learning process. Materials associated with our initiative will be published online on the RELATE platform, dedicated to advancing natural language processing and AI developments for the Romanian language.

Keywords: STEM, Artificial Intelligence, Large Language Models, Education.