California has become the first state in the US to launch an AI impact assessment system. This was announced in a press release on Governor Gavin Newsom's website.
“An AI-powered unemployment tracking system provides a clearer picture of how AI is affecting workers and jobs and where support and training should be focused“, said Stuart Knox, secretary of the California Agency for Labor and Workforce Development. He added that this will allow officials to “ensure that the workforce adapts and thrives as technology advances.”
The system is a dashboard whose data will be updated monthly. The platform is publicly available and is designed to help small businesses and employees prepare for the impact of the widespread use of artificial intelligence.
As the California Policy Research Lab notes, available preliminary data does not show a massive increase in unemployment due to artificial intelligence. However, unemployment claims from workers with college degrees in professions that frequently interact with artificial intelligence have increased since 2022, especially after the release of the ChatGPT-3.5 chatbot by developer OpenAI.