ETA Issues Initial AI Literacy Framework
The federal government has laid out its path for the future pertaining to artificial intelligence (AI) instruction, which will impact grant programs that provide education and training to our country’s workforce.
Last week, the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employment and Training Administration (ETA), working with the Department of Education (ED), published a framework for AI literacy to provide a foundation to guide nationwide AI literacy efforts across workforce and education systems. DOL defines AI literacy as “a foundational set of competencies that enable individuals to use and evaluate AI technologies responsibly, with a primary focus on generative AI, which is increasingly central to the modern workplace.”
The framework outlines five foundational content areas — Understand AI Principles, Explore AI Uses, Direct AI Effectively, Evaluate AI Outputs and Use AI Responsibly — and is intended to guide program design and deployment of AI literacy efforts, while still providing users of the framework a certain amount of flexibility in how they adopt it.
“To build the next great American talent pipeline, we must equip all students with the skills necessary to address tomorrow’s challenges,” said ED Secretary Linda McMahon. “We are proud to work with our agency partners on this historic guidance that will not only advance AI in education, but also help build the workforce for the golden age.”
ETA release of the framework follows previous guidance promoting the use of Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act funding and governor’s reserve monies to help participants develop AI skills. It supports the Trump administration’s broader commitment to prioritize AI literacy and skill development across the workforce system to ensure American workers are prepared for an AI-driven economy, as expressed in the administration’s AI Action Plan and America’s Talent Strategy.
However, keep in mind that this is not the final version of the framework. It states: “In line with this framework’s principle of agility, DOL is releasing this initial version of our framework to establish a clear starting point, while also committing to evolve it over time to ensure continued relevance. The pace of AI advancement demands this approach: it is important for all workforce and education stakeholders to examine whether existing processes across the system are capable of keeping pace with the speed at which AI is transforming the economy. This framework provides near-term guidance for stakeholders, while signaling that the framework will be regularly updated based on technological advances, labor market changes and implementation feedback.”
State workforce agencies and administrators, state educational agencies and other ETA grantees should review the framework to determine how to best support strategies for addressing prerequisites to AI literacy, such as digital literacy skills. Take note that ETA also seeks feedback on effective AI literacy efforts, barriers to success and opportunities for further guidance.
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