Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., announced a bipartisan bill on Sept. 4 that would direct the Department of Education to create a federal grant program to help K-12 schools set up artificial intelligence (AI) labs to teach students how AI works and to train teachers.
Gottheimer unveiled the AI LABS Act alongside Rep. Jay Obernolte, R-Calif., to boost AI literacy in the classroom. The lawmaker said the labs would be much like the computer labs that became a fixture in schools in the ’80s and ’90s.
“AI can be a powerful tool, but it can never replace the fundamentals,” Gottheimer said in a press release. “Give our schools the tools. Give our teachers the training. And give our children a real head start, instead of a false choice between banning technology outright and drowning in it.”
The bill would also direct the Department of Education to study who receives the resources and how they are used. The department would then be tasked with making recommendations on future investments in AI education.
Gottheimer said the bill builds on recommendations from the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association for dedicated AI curricula that are directed and supervised by educators.
Gottheimer, who serves as co-chair of the House Commission on Artificial Intelligence and the Innovation Economy, framed the legislation as an effort to expand AI literacy while maintaining an emphasis on critical thinking.
“I don’t want to raise a generation of children who can prompt a chatbot, but can’t write a paragraph on their own, or think through what question to ask the chatbot,” the lawmaker said during Sept. 4 remarks at George Washington Middle School in Ridgewood, N.J.
“I want to raise a generation of children who can use it to genuinely improve their work, because they understand how to use it and know its limits,” he added. “That’s the whole idea behind the AI LABS Act.”
Additionally, the congressman unveiled a broader back-to-school technology agenda that includes proposals focused on classroom phone restrictions, state AI education resources, and broadband access.
Gottheimer also said he is sending a letter to the Federal Communications Commission and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to urge both agencies to prioritize broadband deployment for rural and underserved school districts, “so the benefits of AI are not concentrated in the wealthiest, most connected communities.”