Dive Brief:
- The U.S. Department of Labor launched a free artificial intelligence literacy course Tuesday, designed to help U.S. workers learn AI basics, according to a news release. The text message-based program, titled “Make America AI-Ready,” is available by texting “READY” to 20202.
- The course was designed to be accessible to people without a laptop or those with limited internet access and offers short lessons and daily challenges via text message. Users should be able to complete the course in seven days “by engaging for just 10 minutes a day,” per the release.
- The program is part of President Donald Trump’s larger AI Action Plan, which called for the “rapid retraining” of workers displaced by AI and for DOL and other government departments to promote “the integration of AI skill development” into programs such as career and technical education, workforce training and apprenticeships.
Dive Insight:
“The ‘Make America AI-Ready’ initiative is designed to ensure every American worker has the chance to learn foundational skills so they can benefit from the opportunities that the AI economy presents,” U.S. Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer said in the release.
This new text message-based initiative was developed through a public-private partnership between DOL and education software company Arist, per the release.
The course’s daily content was designed to align with DOL’s recently released AI literacy framework, which highlights five “content areas of AI literacy.” Those content areas include understanding AI principles, exploring AI uses, effectively directing AI, evaluating AI outputs and using AI responsibly, per the release.
DOL created this course to serve as a starting point for U.S. workers who wish to better understand AI, the department said. The program offers participants resources upon completion that are designed to help them to learn more advanced AI skills or enter AI-related careers, per the release.
“This initiative will help demystify AI for American workers,” Deputy Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling said in the release. “We are seeing AI create new jobs, new levels of productivity, and new forms of entrepreneurship, and we want to make sure all Americans have the skills to share in that prosperity.”