A new bipartisan bill introduced in the Senate seeks to boost education on artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum science across the nation by authorizing the National Science Foundation (NSF) to award scholarships for higher education students.
The NSF AI Education Act of 2024 also tasks the agency with AI education more broadly, requiring NSF to create an AI education and training framework for more underrepresented populations such as women and rural residents.
The bill – introduced by Sens. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., on May 23 – calls on NSF to leverage financial support from the private sector to support the scholarships and fellowships.
“The emerging tech jobs of tomorrow are here today,” Sen. Cantwell said in a statement. “Seattle has one of the nation’s highest growth rates for AI jobs, AgAID in Pullman is helping our farmers feed the world with AI solutions that overcome crop productivity challenges and the entire Pacific Northwest is on the way to becoming America’s ‘Quantum Valley.’”
“Demand for AI expertise is already high and will continue to grow,” she said. “This bill will open doors to AI for students at all levels, and upskill our workforce to drive American tech innovation, entrepreneurship and progress in solving the toughest global challenges.”
The 25-page bill tasks NSF with more than a dozen authorities, with awarding both undergraduate and graduate AI and quantum scholarships and fellowships making up the bulk of the legislation.
The NSF AI in Education Act authorizes NSF to award merit- or needs-based scholarships for study of AI, quantum, AI and agriculture, AI and education, and AI and advanced manufacturing. It also authorizes NSF to award fellowships for professional development in STEM fields.
The legislation is focused on low-income and rural areas. It aims to direct NSF, in coordination with the Regional Technology Hub Program, to establish at least five Community College and Vocation School Centers of AI Excellence across the country. These centers will focus on developing and disseminating information about best practices for AI research and education at community colleges and vocational schools, the senators said.
The bill will also authorize an NSF grand challenge for AI education and training, including strategies for training one million workers in the U.S. on the creation, deployment, or use of AI by 2028. It also calls on NSF to create AI education and training frameworks that do not displace existing workers, including teachers. It also wants those frameworks to include promotion of increasing the number of women who receive AI education and training, and ensuring rural areas are able to benefit from AI education and training.
Finally, the bill directs NSF to create publicly available Pre-K-12 AI education “playbooks” for introducing AI in classrooms across the country.
“Artificial Intelligence has tremendous potential, but it will require a skilled and capable workforce to unlock its capabilities,” Sen. Moran said in a statement. “If we want to fully understand AI and remain globally competitive, we must invest in the future workforce today. This legislation takes an all-of-the-above approach, investing in STEM education, fellowships and hands-on-learning from kindergarten to college for students in rural areas, at community colleges and from low-income homes. Inspiration to explore and the resources to learn will help make certain the U.S. is an AI leader in the next century.”
Industry and academia voiced their support for the senators’ bill introduced on May 23.
“Microsoft is pleased to support the NSF AI Education Act of 2024, which is an important first step that will help support students, professionals, and institutions, including community colleges, prepare for and leverage the opportunities brought about by AI,” said Fred Humphries, Microsoft’s corporate VP of U.S. Government Affairs. “We look forward to working with the Senate on future legislation as we continue to see the impact of AI across our nation’s education and workforce systems.”
