Good AI Starts With a Trained Workforce, Government Experts Say

Agencies' digital transformation efforts in areas like artificial intelligence must also consider workforce needs, according to a panel of government technology experts. Speaking at an ATARC event on Thursday, the panelists asserted that it does not matter how good the data or AI is, if people do not know how to use it correctly or understand it. As a result, the panelists emphasized the need for data literacy, education and training. "I can build the best AI model, but if I put it in the hands of my investigator, and if he has a ton of questions, then we just lost them," Ben Joseph, chief data officer for the United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General, said. "Earlier this year, we actually punched out a small program in terms of data literacy…so we educate my workforce, investigators, auditors and everybody else, like'how do you interpret data?'" "It's almost like you have to right-size the AI education for the position or the role that the individual is playing in the lifecycle," William Streilein, chief technology officer at the Department of Defense's Office of the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Officer, said.