DOE and NSF Partner to Boost America’s AI Workforce through New Training Program
March 4, 2024 -- An artificial intelligence (AI)-ready workforce is essential for the United States to fully realize AI’s potential to advance scientific discovery, economic prosperity, and national security. In 2023, the White House released the Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI EO) to harness the power of AI for good while mitigating its substantial risks. The EO calls for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), in coordination with the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), to "establish a pilot program to enhance existing successful training programs for scientists, with the goal of training 500 new researchers by 2025 capable of meeting the rising demand for AI talent.”
Credit: DOE
DOE has been preparing future scientists to be AI research leaders by leveraging decades of sustained R&D investments in high-performance computing (HPC) that have led to significant advances in both fundamental studies and world-leading supercomputing tools. By planting the seeds of curiosity through discovery learning, over the decades, DOE national laboratories have introduced basic AI concepts and skills to hundreds of thousands of students and educators at all levels.
Training programs at DOE national laboratories deliver opportunities for best-in-class hands-on research experiences, including through access to leading AI research expertise, world-class supercomputing facilities, and a science-driven approach. These training opportunities complement AI education and training offered through other pathways, such as AI education and training supported by both DOE and NSF at institutions of higher education and various other settings for learning.
The unparalleled research and innovation environment at DOE national laboratories attracts talent from all over the world to strengthen America's AI workforce. DOE will continue its investments in a highly skilled talent pool - encompassing K-12 educators and students, undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and faculty and professionals looking to add to their skillsets - to grow and sustain America's AI-ready workforce of tomorrow.
NSF is supporting the development of an AI-ready workforce through the creation of educational tools, materials, fellowships, and curricula to enhance learning and foster training opportunities open to all communities. NSF-funded efforts reach across the country, from K-12 classrooms to experiential learning opportunities at the undergraduate and graduate levels to workforce development efforts in community colleges, building AI skills and understanding at all levels needed to responsibly harness the opportunities of AI for scientific discovery and other critical societal challenges.
NSF’s AI training and education programs support AI research experiences for undergraduates, seasonal internships, and full-time graduate and postdoctoral fellowships. Through its Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure, NSF has built a nationwide ecosystem of advanced computing and data capabilities alongside training programs that empower researchers to use those systems. In addition, NSF supports AI and data science training programs at the regional level, including with community colleges, minority serving institutions, and tribal colleges and universities.
By 2025, the education and workforce opportunities provided by the DOE and NSF pilot program will add to the national AI workforce by training more than 500 new researchers at all career stages in a variety of critical basic research and enabling technology development areas.
DOE, in coordination with NSF, is creating a vibrant training and workforce ecosystem by advancing secure, trustworthy, and equitable AI for all Americans. This web portal highlights a non-exhaustive collection of DOE and NSF AI education, training, and workforce opportunities. This is a part of a larger effort to increase connectivity between government-supported AI learning and training programs and elevate the accessibility of these opportunities to people interested in accruing AI knowledge and skills.
Click here for a link to the web portal.
Source: U.S. Dept. of Energy
