FCC Commissioner Olivia Trusty conjured up her collegiate gymnastics experiences to describe the challenges AI presents and how the American workforce can respond to them.
She gave a speech to the National Urban League Empowerment Summit that focused squarely on AI and how workers can adapt to using technologies that are reshaping the job market.
Trusty, one of two Republicans on the FCC along with Chairman Brendan Carr, said there’s also work for government to do.
“Foundational” role
Trusty cited the Trump administration’s “worker-first AI agenda” for promoting the birth of new occupations, including “new-collar” jobs that prioritize skills and certifications over traditional degree pathways.
She said the FCC has a crucial role in connecting touchpoints of the technology. She said it is working to implement an agenda that expands the availability, affordability and quality of these critical information services.
“Our role is foundational. AI cannot function without connectivity,” she told the gathering in Washington.
As to what people in the workforce can do, Trusty drew a parallel to her time as a gymnast for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the early 2000s.
She described a rulebook called the “Code of Points” and said it would change over time, requiring new standards of excellence.
“To stay competitive, I had to learn new skills, more difficult tumbling passes, more complex combinations and sometimes routines that felt risky and uncomfortable at first. This required retraining, a commitment to continuous learning and an understanding that transformation was required to be competitive at the collegiate level,” she said.
It’s much the same with AI, she said. “AI represents an updated Code of Points, as intelligent technologies are reshaping the job market and the skills needed for workers to succeed.”
She said workers should take the initiative to develop AI literacy, investing time to understand how tools work and how to use them responsibly. “It also means strengthening the uniquely human skills that AI cannot easily replicate: critical thinking, creativity, emotional intelligence, ethical judgment and leadership.”
They also should seek early, hands-on experience through real-world situations like apprenticeships and on-the-job training. “To meet this moment, it is imperative that we embrace continuous learning. Skills cannot remain static in a dynamic economy. Just like in gymnastics, if the Code of Points changes, you train again. You evolve. You refine your routine.”
She said that for the workforce in particular, “access to high-speed broadband ultimately means access to education, to training, to entrepreneurship, to innovation and to the opportunity to participate in the AI economy. The FCC is actively working to implement an agenda that expands the availability, affordability and quality of these critical information services.”
She said the FCC’s work must include engaging with industry to support workforce development initiatives to prepare Americans for these careers. It can support AI literacy and skills development at every level, from K–12 exposure to workforce retraining, and help launch apprenticeship programs.
In many cases, AI will not replace workers, Trusty told the audience, but it will augment them. She said it will elevate productivity and efficiency, enhance decision-making and unlock new industries.
Trusty also cited the commission’s role in increasing broadband access to underserved and hard-to-reach communities. Universal connectivity, she said, will fuel the nation’s innovation capacity and ensure the development of an AI ecosystem open to all.
“Through our agency programs and regulatory authorities, the FCC is committed to closing the digital divide so that everyone can access AI-powered opportunities through high-speed connectivity,” she told the summit.
Trusty concluded by pointing to the importance of working with groups like the Urban League to move AI initiatives forward.
“The mission of the National Urban League has always been about ensuring that opportunity reaches every community. In the age of AI, that mission is more important than ever.”
The full text is available on the FCC website.
[Do you receive the Radio World SmartBrief newsletter each weekday morning?]
