If AI could save you five hours a week, the government asks, “what would you do with that time?” That’s the opening pitch of the Department of Labor’s new AI literacy course, “Make America AI-Ready,” a seven-day, text-message-delivered program of short modules and quizzes designed to demystify AI and encourage people to use it.
Launched as part of the administration’s AI Action Plan, the course aims to make AI “feel less like a mystery and more like a tool you actually want to use.” Experts in AI and media literacy generally praised the curriculum and format. Peter Stone, chair of computer science at the University of Texas at Austin, said people need literacy about AI to separate hype from reality. Mike Caufield, a digital literacy expert at the University of Washington Bothell, reviewed the course and called it “a nice little course” that stresses context, specificity in prompts, and verification of AI outputs.
But reviewers flagged problems. Caufield said the course tone can be too rosy, repeatedly emphasizing time-saving benefits that early research doesn’t consistently show for most workers. In some fields, such as software development, AI has led to “work intensification,” where AI handles simpler tasks and workers take on more difficult or demanding work.
The course also links to outside resources that may be risky. One recommended video, “101 ways to use AI,” suggests asking a chatbot whether a foraged mushroom is safe to eat — advice that could lead to poisoning. Taylor Stockton, the Labor Department’s chief innovation officer, declined to answer questions about that specific recommendation, and the department did not respond to follow-up requests.
The involvement of private companies in creating and delivering the course raised government-ethics concerns. DOL partnered with Arist, a firm that delivers short, text-based courses, to deliver the content. Arist provided the delivery for free as part of the White House’s Pledge to America’s Youth initiative, without a contracting process, Stockton said. Craig Holman, an expert on ethics, lobbying and campaign finance at Public Citizen, described a private company running a government program without payment as “exceedingly suspicious.”
The course also lists more than a dozen AI tools — including chatbots from well-known companies and other purpose-specific services — under a lesson called “Put AI to Work For You.” Holman argued that listing products in a government training could amount to using public resources to promote private interests. Some listed tools, like the data visualization service DataWrapper, do not use AI; DOL said it is not endorsing any private companies but offering a diverse set of tools people may choose to explore.
Labor advocates say the course lacks important context for workers facing AI-driven changes. The Labor Department’s mission includes fostering the welfare of wage earners and advancing opportunities for employment, but union leaders worry simple prompting instruction doesn’t address workplace risks. Lauren McFerran, chair of the AFL-CIO’s Tech Institute and a former chair of the National Labor Relations Board, questioned whether teaching prompting will make jobs better or safer or help people access high-quality, union work.
Workers are concerned about how employers might use AI: whether models are being used to create products that could replace jobs, or whether employers will expect unrealistic productivity gains if AI is introduced. Stockton said the literacy course is only a starting point and that the department is engaging with stakeholders, including unions, to build programs so both businesses and workers can benefit. He said DOL is talking with unions about an upcoming AI Workforce Hub; some unions, including AFL-CIO, Communication Workers of America and National Nurses United, said they have not yet heard from DOL about that initiative.
The course appears designed not just to inform but to increase AI adoption. It asks learners how often they use AI and prompts them to try AI for a routine task. Arist’s CEO Michael Ioffe said early data shows the course “very, very meaningfully increases AI usage,” a point he made on stage with Stockton at a late-March conference.
Overall, while the course fills a demand for accessible AI literacy and contains useful guidance on verification and context, critics say it glosses over potential harms, omits worker-centered protections and raises ethics questions about private-sector involvement in publicly offered training. The Labor Department frames the effort as an initial step toward broader engagement; whether it will address the deeper workplace and governance issues surrounding AI remains to be seen.
