Artificial intelligence (AI) could soon be incorporated into school classrooms after President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday.
According to The Hill, White House staff secretary Will Scharf said the move was to allow American school children AI training so they can compete in future economies.
“The basic idea of this executive order is to ensure that we properly train the workforce of the future by ensuring that school children, young Americans, are adequately trained in AI tools, so that they can be competitive in the economy years from now into the future, as AI becomes a bigger and bigger deal,” Scharf said.
The Washington Post reported that a pre-decisional draft said Trump wants partnerships between schools and private companies to implement AI into school programs, reportedly instructing Department of Education head Linda McMahon to prioritize funding for teacher and administrator training.
The WaPo further reported that the order creates an AI education task force, with the aim of fostering the partnership between the private sector and federal agencies to teach students AI literacy and “critical thinking skills.”
“AI is where it seems to be at,” The Hill reported Trump saying during the order’s signing.
There have been concerns around the use of AI despite its benefits, especially around cheating, bullying, and ethics. However, schools have begun partnering with different organizations to teach both students and teachers how to use the tool responsibly.
In January, Trump signed another executive order relaxing some of the regulations from the industry as well as investing into data centers.
