As artificial intelligence (AI) systems become embedded in everyday communication, education, and decision-making, public AI literacy has become a pressing science communication challenge. This paper reconceptualizes AI literacy as a science communication task rather than a narrowly technical educational objective. Using a scoping-review-informed synthesis of interdisciplinary literature, the manuscript integrates scholarship from AI literacy, science communication, informal learning, and educational technology to derive the COMMUNICATE framework. The review drew on iterative searches of Google Scholar, Scopus-indexed sources available to the author, and backward reference tracing. Sources were included when they addressed AI literacy frameworks, public engagement and science communication theory, or empirical findings relevant to pedagogy, trust, participation, and AI-supported learning design. The resulting framework organizes eleven principles: Contextualized understanding, Open dialogue, Multimodal representation, Meaning-making, Universal accessibility, Narrative engagement, Interactive exploration, Critical evaluation, Adaptive scaffolding, Transformative learning, and Ethical reflection. The paper argues that a science communication perspective adds value by foregrounding audience diversity, public trust, dialogic participation, and interpretive context, which are often underdeveloped in technically oriented AI literacy models. The manuscript concludes by outlining practical implications for educators, communicators, and policymakers, while explicitly acknowledging the framework's conceptual status and the need for future empirical validation across formal and informal settings.