Education and workforce training form core of national AI strategy, Labor innovation head says

LAS VEGAS –– Upskilling the U.S. workforce through existing funding programs and creating new vehicles to minimize worker displacement are key tactics in the Department of Labor’s game plan to get the American workforce ready for an artificial intelligence-centric economy. 

Taylor Stockton, the chief innovation officer at the Labor, elaborated on his agency’s plans to grow an AI-fluent American workforce at the Ai4 conference in Las Vegas, Nevada on Tuesday. On the heels of the newly-released Talent Strategy jointly authored by the Departments of Labor, Commerce and Education, Stockton said that education is key.

“Our belief is that the first priority is really a foundational AI literacy, which is not the entire answer, but we do believe it's the first step,” he said. “So one of the things that you've seen from this administration is a tremendous prioritization on AI literacy across all education and workforce funding streams.”

Labor’s strategy hinges on upskilling the existing workforce to keep incumbent workers participating in an economy defined by emerging technology. In addition to establishing the AI Workforce Research Hub –– part of President Donald Trump’s AI Action Plan –– the administration will also expand current instruments, like those included in the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, to organize and fasttrack workforce training grants and relevant pilot programs. 

“Part of what we put out in our report today was really showing how we can bring more agility to the labor market into the workforce system,” he said. “Because the reality is: we know a little bit about how skills and tasks will change, but it's going to keep changing.”

Stockton said that this approach is designed to ensure funding for AI upskilling and training can flexibly respond to employers and employees’s AI skill development needs. 

“What we need to build in our internal system is these muscles of flexibility that allow state workforce agencies and other programs that we support to move quickly and say, ‘What are the types of demands from employers in our local economy?’ ‘What are the types of skills that they're looking for?’ and ‘How do we quickly build talent pipelines to better support those needs?’” he said. 

The flexibility Stockton mentions serves as one of five pillars in the new strategy, which include industry-driven strategies; worker mobility; integrated systems; accountability; and flexibility and innovation. Taken together, these approaches are intended to fortify the workforce against AI-driven economic headwinds. 

Despite the emphasis Labor places on mitigating the threat of worker displacement, Stockton said he believes this fear is “overstated” due to studies that propose what AI systems can potentially do, but not how it will impact employers’ decisions on shifting worker responsibilities. 

“I think a lot of times, when people see this notion that you can do more with less with AI, they assume that … employers will do the same with less employees,” he said. “In reality, a lot of decisions that we're seeing employers make are keeping the same number of employees but doing more with it.”

He clarified that experts at Labor believe there will be new job creation and new opportunities coming with increased AI adoption, which may have “some type of impact in terms of roles that decrease in terms of the number that are in the economy.” 

Whether or not mass displacement will occur due to the presence of AI in the workplace will be one of the areas of focus for Labor’s AI Workforce Research Hub. Stockton told Nextgov/FCW on the sidelines of Ai4 that the hub will use real-time labor market data to understand the experience of the American worker.

“The AI Workforce Research Hub … is going to be an ongoing effort to really analyze what is the actual impact that we're seeing on the ground … how do we use those insights to translate to real policy, and new innovative models to better help workers navigate the new opportunities and challenges that will be present in the AI-driven economy,” he said. 

Other action items Labor will work on in the coming months include a multi-departmental plan to focus on restandardizing apprenticeship programs to align work opportunities with job outcomes and work with state governments to propose reforms that shift their individual workforce systems to match the Talent Strategy’s five pillars. 

“We want this wave of opportunity to be as widely as successful as possible, across the country, regardless of geography, regardless of education level or income level,” Stockton said.

Both Stockton’s statements and the Talent Strategy are consistent with the Trump administration’s optimistic, pro-industry approach to AI policy. Characterized by less regulation and more tech innovation, the Trump administration's goal is to have the U.S. lead in the global race to AI dominance through multiple tactics, including enhanced public and private sector collaboration.

Editor's note: This article has been updated to correct Stockton's job title.