Top Trump labor official: America's workers don't trust employers with AI

• But that requires mass implementation, already underway, that might devastate white-collar employment.

What they're saying: "What we're seeing is it's really coming down to employee trust," Keith Sonderling, deputy labor secretary, said at a Business Roundtable workforce event.

• "Why companies are having issues with the adoption of AI in the workplace is that they don't believe their employers are using this for the right reason," Sonderling added.
• "A lot of employees look at this and say, 'This is going to be my robot replacement. Why would I use this? Why would I help train this if this is going to eventually replace me in my job?'"

The big picture: Sonderling said the Trump administration sees "starting early" on AI education as the key way to dispel that fear, pointing to an executive order that requires government agencies to develop an AI curriculum for schools across the country.

• "We have to train our current workers and the next generation of workers on how to use AI, how to develop them themselves — so they're no longer afraid about AI displacement and they're going to know exactly what AI is doing," Sonderling said.

Yes, but: Sonderling acknowledged the job loss anxiety among some workers might be warranted.

• There are huge questions about what role the federal government will play — if any — in easing the pain in a world where millions of workers could lose their job.

What to watch: "There are all these statistics coming about, that [big companies are] going to replace hundreds of millions of jobs and industries are going to be completely wiped out," Sonderling said.

• "It's not 'How do we prevent that?', it's 'What are we going to do with those workers and what are those jobs you are going to need now?,'" Sonderling said.
• Speaking to an audience of mostly private sector executives, Sonderling said: "You need to tell us where those jobs are going."
• He said the government could use that information to "fund the education institutions on those skills, so you have those skills you need and the workers are ready to go."