In mid-October, Google announced it would award $15 million in new grants to two nonprofit organizations: Partnership for Public Service and InnovateUS.
The Partnership for Public Service will receive $10 million to open the Center for Federal AI in spring 2025. Center is intended to help further educate government employees on how to evaluate potential use cases for AI and increasing knowledge of AI. The center is also planned an internship program that will teach students how to implement AI responsiblyreports CNBC on the nonprofit’s website.
The remaining $5 million will be awarded to InnovateUS, the nonprofit organization that provides free AI courses and workshops for public sector employees at the state and local levels.
The Google grants are part of a $75 million fund AI Opportunity Fund Google.org, an initiative aimed at helping to improve the qualifications of workers in the US, reports CNBC.
Others are also investing in AI education
Google isn’t the only tech giant aiming to narrow the AI skills gap. Also in October, Adobe unveiled a global initiative to help 30 million people develop AI, digital marketing and content creation skills by 2030.
In September 2023 IBM has announced plans to partner with universities to offer courses on generative AI and career readiness in AIwith the goal of educating 2 million people around the world about AI by the end of 2026. It will also expand its offering to IBM SkillsBuild, which provides free courses on a variety of technical topics.
Lack of AI skills as a barrier to wider implementation
Technology companies developing AI tools would like more employees and companies to learn how to use them effectively. Meanwhile, a bit over 60 percent CEOs say a lack of knowledge about AI prevents them from fully leveraging AI in their organizationsaccording to an IBM and Oracle study of more than 2,500 CEOs from over 30 countries, cited by CNBC.
In addition, almost 80 percent business leaders believe that using AI will help them remain competitive, about 60 percent says their organizations haven’t developed a strategy to leverage it, according to Microsoft and LinkedIn’s 2024 Work Trends Index.
Most business leaders say that wouldn’t hire someone who didn’t have AI skillsand 71 percent says it would rather hire a less experienced candidate with AI skills than a more experienced candidate who doesn’t, according to a report by Microsoft and LinkedIn.
