Google funds worker training programs for AI economy: Report

Google is funding new research and skills training programs to prepare workers for an artificial intelligence-driven economy, Axios reported Tuesday.

According to the report, the company is launching three new AI training initiatives, including a partnership with the Johnson & Johnson Foundation to help rural healthcare providers reduce administrative burdens.

The effort also includes a collaboration with Jobs for the Future to create apprenticeships across 100 companies, as well as a program with the Manufacturing Institute to train 40,000 workers and expand apprenticeships to 15 new US regions.

Google is also convening government, industry, and civil society representatives in Washington on Tuesday to "discuss AI and the future of work."

Ben Armstrong of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is expected to present research on how companies can use AI to help employees reduce routine tasks while supporting learning and collaboration.

The report said Google is seeking to shape how Washington approaches AI and jobs before policymakers establish their own framework.

"AI is not something that is happening to us. It is something that we get to shape," Google's head economist Fabien Curto Millet told Axios, adding that AI's impact on jobs will depend on the choices companies and governments make today.