U.S. Department of Labor Launches Free AI Literacy Course

The U.S. Department of Labor has launched a free, text-message-based AI literacy course titled "Make America AI-Ready." The course, delivered through a partnership with the technology company Arist, consists of seven daily modules, each designed to take less than 10 minutes to complete.

Course Content and Reactions

The course aims to teach principles for using AI effectively, covering topics like providing context, being specific with requests, and verifying AI outputs.

AI literacy teachers who reviewed the materials described the course as solid overall and meeting a public demand for such education.

Some reviewers noted the course's tone was optimistic about AI's time-saving benefits. Early research cited in the article suggests this benefit has not materialized for most people and has led to work intensification in some fields.

The course directs students to external resources, including a video that contains potentially risky advice, such as using a chatbot to identify edible mushrooms.

A lesson titled "Put AI to Work For You" lists over a dozen tools from various companies, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind, and xAI. The list also included DataWrapper, a company that stated its tool does not use AI.

Ethical and Contextual Concerns

An ethics expert stated that a company running a government program without a formal contract is unusual and raised concerns about using public resources to list private products, even if no money changed hands.

A Department of Labor official stated the department is not endorsing any companies and that the listed tools are presented for consideration.

Labor advocates questioned whether the course addresses core workforce concerns related to AI, such as job displacement, increased productivity demands, or worker training for high-quality jobs.

The Department of Labor official stated the course is a starting point and that the department is engaging with stakeholders, including labor unions, on future initiatives like a proposed AI Workforce Hub. Several unions named in the article stated they had not yet been contacted about this initiative.

Course Goals and Data

The course concludes by asking participants how often they use AI tools and encourages more frequent use.

The CEO of Arist stated that early data shows the course meaningfully increases AI usage among participants.