President Donald Trump on Wednesday referred to as for the “fast retraining” of employees displaced by synthetic intelligence. That directive and others got here as a part of a White Home AI motion plan geared toward advancing such abilities within the U.S. workforce.
The U.S. Division of Labor ought to use out there discretionary funds to pay for that coaching, he stated. The company additionally ought to develop — in partnership with employers and different stakeholders — coaching applications that tackle workforce wants in precedence AI infrastructure jobs.
Going a step additional, the plan advised DOL discover methods to incentivize employers to upskill incumbent employees.
Trump additionally referred to as on the Treasury Division to situation steerage clarifying that many AI literacy and AI ability improvement applications might qualify as eligible academic help underneath the Inner Income Code. “In relevant conditions, this may allow employers to supply tax-free reimbursement for AI-related coaching and assist scale private-sector funding in AI ability improvement, preserving jobs for American employees,” in accordance with the plan.
Estimates on potential AI-related job displacement fluctuate however a current SHRM report indicated that greater than 19 million roles — greater than 12% of jobs within the U.S. — face a excessive threat or very excessive threat of near-term displacement as a result of automation. The analysis deemed blue-collar, service and white-collar administrative assist occupations as significantly excessive threat.
Wednesday’s directives, geared toward mitigating a few of these losses, had been well-received by DOL management. In a ready assertion, Deputy Secretary Keith Sonderling praised it as “a worker-centric AI technique” that the company “appears ahead to executing.”
