A plan to stop AI from automating our decline | Gina Raimondo

**Modupe Akinola** (0:00)
If you're feeling anxious that your job could be outsourced to AI, you're not alone. It's estimated that millions of Americans have jobs that are AI-vulnerable. As our economy gets reshaped by AI, and as the US competes in the global AI race, how do we make sure that people who lose their jobs aren't left behind?
I'm Modupe Akinola. This is TED Business, a podcast from TED. Our speaker today is Gina Raimondo, the former governor of Rhode Island and the former US secretary of commerce. In her talk, Gina acknowledges the disruption caused by transitioning to an AI-based economy. But she also provides large-scale solutions to ensure people have both the support and skills to make the leap. Then after the talk, we'll think out loud about innovating incentives. But first, a quick break.
And now, Gina Raimondo takes the TED stage.

**Gina Raimondo** (1:09)
What will it take for America to lead the global AI competition? Now we all know we'll need plentiful energy, the best chips, the most innovative AI companies, the best models. But I argue that's not nearly enough. Because if we're the best in the world at those things, but we've displaced millions of American workers, then we're going to lose the global AI race. In fact, we will have automated our decline, because recession, social unrest, political upheaval, those will weaken our country, our politics, and our economy. And ultimately, I believe, I know, they will lead to excessive, burdensome regulation of AI that will slow and stop and hinder AI innovation. The reality is the United States can't lead the world in technological innovation if it's failing its people at home. We need a technology strategy and a human capital strategy. Because the only way to truly win the long-term AI race is to lead in the technology and to have a plan that brings everybody along to an AI economy. Now, I think it's incredibly exciting to think about what a well-trained individual can do with AI. Think about how much more productive and creative we'll all be and how many new businesses will be created. And I'm optimistic because history shows every time we create a new technology, it does create new jobs, new industries, new products, new services, over time, with some time. And I'm confident that that will happen again this time with AI, with time. So what I'm worried about is the near-term disruption to workers as we transition from here to an AI economy. Because I know this, as a former governor and secretary of commerce, America's workforce and career transition systems weren't built for this moment. Some people estimate tens of millions of American workers are in AI-vulnerable jobs, all kinds of jobs, people of every age, geography, income level of education. We are not prepared for this transition, and Americans know it.
I was at a bar the other night watching NCAA basketball, huge University of Michigan fan. And it's all, go blue, it's all everybody was talking about. It's all the chatter. What are you gonna do when you lose your job to AI? I'm so bummed I'm paying all this money for tuition for my kids in college. Are they gonna have a job when they're done? Americans are anxious for a reason, and we owe them more than empathy. We owe them a plan, we owe them action. And so far, I'm not hearing a lot of good solutions. There's the slow AI, stop AI, over-regulate AI crowd. It's a bad idea. It denies Americans the promise of AI, and China will pull ahead.
And then there's the universal basic income crowd. That's also a bad idea. Every one of you know a job's more than a paycheck. It's dignity, it's purpose, it's pride. Without purposeful work, a society unravels.
So what are the elements of an effective transition plan?
Unfortunately, as I stand here today, I don't know the exact details. But here's what I do know. I know it's rooted in a new grand bargain between government and business. I know it means tearing down the wall we've had for so long between school and jobs. And I know industry, every company needs to help lead the transition. And here is what I know more than anything else.
I know if we are determined, we can make it happen.
At a minimum, we need massive changes in both our workforce training system and our career transition support system. In an effective workforce training system, employers define where work is today, what skills are needed, where it's going, and then schools and government training programs prepare people to get there. That is not what we have today. Today, in our country, we spend hundreds of billions of dollars to incentivize enrollment in college. Without regard to whether people get a degree, the skills they need for a job or a job.