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now with the With the explosion of interest in artificial intelligence, Congress is turning its attention to ensuring that those who work in government learn more about the technology. US Senators Gary Peters (D-Michigan) and Mike Braun (R-Indiana) call for universal AI leadership training with the AI Leadership Training Actwhich advancing to the full Senate for consideration. The bill directs the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the human resources department of the federal government, to train federal leaders in the basics and risks of AI. However, it does not yet require teaching how to use AI to improve the functioning of government.

The AI ​​Leadership Training Act is an important step in the right direction, but it must go beyond requiring basic AI training. It should require the OPM to teach public servants how to use AI technologies to improve public service making government services more accessible, providing consistent access to city services, helping to analyze data to understand citizen needs, and creating new opportunities for the public to participate in democratic decision-making.

For example, cities are already experimenting with AI-based imaging for participatory urban planning, while San Francisco’s PAIGE AI Chatbot is helping answer business owners’ questions about how to sell to the city. Helsinki, Finland, uses a AI-powered decision-making tool to analyze data and provide recommendations on city policies. In Dubai, leaders are not just learning AI in general, but learning how to use ChatGPT specifically. Legislation should also require that the OPM not only teach what AI is, but also how to wear to serve the citizens.

In line with the practice in all other countries, legislation should require that training be free. This is already the case with the military. However, on the civil side, the OPM is required to charge a fee for its training programs. A course titled Enabling 21st Century Leaders, for example, costs $2,200 per person. Even if the individual requests reimbursement from her organization, all too often programs do not have budgets set aside for skill enhancement.

If we want public servants to understand AI, we can’t charge them for it. There is no need to either. building on a program Created in New Jersey, six states are now collaborating with each other on a project called InnovateUS to develop free, live, self-paced learning in digital, data and innovation skills. Because all content is openly licensed and designed specifically for public servers, it can be easily shared between states and also with the federal government.

The law should also require that training be easy to find. Even if Congress mandates the training, public professionals will have a hard time finding it without the physical infrastructure to ensure that public servants can take and track their learning about technology and data. In Germany, the federal government digital academy offers a one-stop site for digital skills enhancement to ensure broad participation. By contrast, in the United States, each federal agency has its own website (and sometimes more than one) where employees can search for training opportunities, and the OPM does not advertise its training throughout the federal government. While the Department of Defense has begun building USALearning.gov so that all employees can eventually have access to the same content, this project needs to be sped up.