WASHINGTON, D.C, - Yesterday, Senator Jim Banks (R-Ind.) introduced the AI Workforce PREPARE Act, which enhances federal agencies' ability to assess AI's impact on the workforce and makes education and job training programs more effective. The bill will help prepare the American worker to win in the AI economy. Original cosponsors of the bill include Senators Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), and Jon Husted (R-Ohio).

Senator Jim Banks: (R-Ind.): "We have to understand how AI is changing the workforce so we can equip American workers with the skills necessary to stay ahead of China and lead the world."

Senator Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.): "American workers cannot be left behind as American corporations continue to push forward with the development and adoption of artificial intelligence. This bipartisan legislation helps the federal government better assess the ways in which artificial intelligence is changing our economy and helps ensure that increased automation does not result in fewer jobs for hard-working American families."

Senator John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.): "We can't sit in the backseat while AI transforms our workforce. Workers, employers, and educators need a roadmap to understand these new directions. Our bipartisan bill will help deliver that map so that we can leverage AI and make sure American workers lead the way."

Senator Jon Husted (R-Ohio): "There is no question that AI will significantly transform the way we work in the coming years, and it's important that we have the facts on how our workforce will be impacted and evolve. America must lead and win the global innovation race, and this bill ensures our workforce not only avoids being left behind, but is prepared to lead the way in developing and using new technology."

Americans for Responsible Innovation President Brad Carson: "Our workforce is potentially facing a large-scale disruption as AI is integrated in our economy. In order to respond effectively with programs that support workers during an era of unprecedented automation, we need better data. Policymakers need to know what jobs are being eliminated, what new work is being created, and how we can train a workforce prepared for the future. The AI Workforce PREPARE Act gets right to the heart of that issue by supporting high-quality economic data collection, analysis, and forecasting on AI's impact."

Key Provisions of the AI Workforce PREPARE Act:

• Create an AI Workforce Research Hub to help implement the White House's AI Action Plan.
• Solicit ideas from the public and convene researchers, technical experts, business, and labor to improve data collection on AI and the workforce.
• Enhance the Labor Department's authorities to hire a core group of AI experts.
• Carry out a pilot project to produce statistics on workers' job changes as they are affected by AI
• Increase researchers' access to the federal government's workforce data.
• Conduct prize competitions to better understand AI adoption, job impacts, and how AI systems augment or automate tasks in particular occupations.
• Facilitate voluntary public-private partnerships to share anonymized data on how users are adopting AI.
• Improve AI-related questions in federal surveys.
• Update the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notice (WARN) Act to provide basic information to employees if AI is a substantial factor in a layoff.
• Improve the Bureau of Labor Statistics' occupational projections.
• Produce a report on how better AI forecasts can be incorporated into grantmaking decisions.
• Conduct a study on how to design more effective rapid retraining programs to assist workers displaced by AI.
• Use AI-informed projections to update states' in-demand occupation lists, which are used to allocate training funding.
• Encourage federal agencies, states, local governments, and businesses to collect and report labor market data in more consistent ways.
• Apply existing privacy protections and accessibility requirements to all data collected and exchanged.

Full text of the bill can be found here.

Background:

According to KPMG, 66% of people already use AI in some way, and according to the IMF, 40% of jobs already incorporate or are affected by AI.

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