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How can we best upskill workers with the AI tools they need? Your views wanted for an IET consultation submission to DSIT

Andrew Rylah

The IET’s Policy & Insight team intends responding to the DSIT consultation on upskilling workers with the tools they need for their jobs alongside AI.  This relates to the draft AI Skills for Business Competency Framework, a short 27-page paper.  AI is a key strand of the team’s work around Digital Futures policy.

We’d appreciate your input to our submission.  The consultation is an initial step in DSIT’s work to develop guidance on skills in AI that supports industry productivity and growth.  Further collaboration is planned for 2024 and we intend participating in that work too.

The questions, which relate to the Framework themes, feature on the DSIT Consultation Feedback Form – I’ve also reproduced them below for ease of reference.  Each one asks for a 1-5 score (1= strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree) and any comments to illustrate the gradings.

I’d appreciate your feedback, which I will summarize in a response that tallies with the consensus, for IET approval and submission.  I may hold a 1-2 hour Teams workshop between 18-20 December to go through the questions if there is sufficient interest.  Please let me know if you would like to take part.

Our deadline for all responses is 9am, Wed 3 January.  This is to fit in with DSIT’s own timeline.

Questions:

Personas

To what extent do you agree that this guidance:

  • will support employers to understand their organisation’s AI upskilling needs and consider associated training needs?
  • addresses the right learner personas for individuals within an organisation? Are there others that should be considered?

To what extent do you agree that the persona:

  • ‘AI Citizen’ is well defined and represents a useful categorisation for individuals within your organisation?
  • ‘AI Worker’ is well defined and represents a useful categorisation for individuals within your organisation?
  • ‘AI Professional’ is well defined and represents a useful categorisation for individuals within your organisation?
  • ‘AI Leader’ is well defined and represents a useful categorisation for individuals within your organisation?

Dimensions

To what extent do you agree that each dimension has been accurately articulated and contains the set of skills you would expect in the category?

  • Dimension A: Data Privacy and Stewardship
  • Dimension B: Definition, acquisition, engineering, architecture storage and curation
  • Dimension C: Problem definition and communication
  • Dimension D: Problem solving, analysis, modelling, visualisation
  • Dimension E: Evaluation and Reflection

To what extent do you agree that the five dimensions of the framework address the right skills and values related to AI projects? Are there others that should be considered?

Are there any similar initiatives in your sector which we should be aware of?

Please provide any other comments or feedback not already covered above.

Parents

  • I somewhat agree with Simon. This left me feeling very underwhelmed. However, some specific comments...

    I would question whether the AI Leader as defined needs to be an expert, especially as the document makes mention of C-suite. Its most likely that the expert will report into the C-suite giving the guidance and direction. I would also question whether this is essentially targeted at very large organisations (perhaps the civil service) rather then SMEs who might be contracting in the AI expertise.

    The other thing that stood out for me was:

    "Persona: AI Citizens AI citizens are members of the public who may be customers to, or employees of, organisations making use of artificial intelligence."

    OK, that's the general public because there are many organisations making use of AI, which many people would actually be unaware of. This then goes on to say:

    "Every AI citizen should be fully conversant with the foundational data skills set out in the Essential Digital Skills Framework ."

    I would argue that is not a SMART objective. Yes, when you look at that framework, most people should be able to do those (not all), but I would argue that most people would be completely unaware of that frameworks existence.

    And given some of the misinformation I heard stated...

    "They will be critical consumers of artificial intelligence, and possess an awareness of the capabilities of these technologies as well as a pragmatic outlook on their utility."

    I have been told many times that ChatGPT is going to replace all coding, It isn't, not in the short term at least. It is a useful productivity tool. Between two engineers, this is fairly well know. To the general public that is a completely different matter. You almost need an educated AI Citizen and an uneducated AI Citizen to reflect reality.

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  • I somewhat agree with Simon. This left me feeling very underwhelmed. However, some specific comments...

    I would question whether the AI Leader as defined needs to be an expert, especially as the document makes mention of C-suite. Its most likely that the expert will report into the C-suite giving the guidance and direction. I would also question whether this is essentially targeted at very large organisations (perhaps the civil service) rather then SMEs who might be contracting in the AI expertise.

    The other thing that stood out for me was:

    "Persona: AI Citizens AI citizens are members of the public who may be customers to, or employees of, organisations making use of artificial intelligence."

    OK, that's the general public because there are many organisations making use of AI, which many people would actually be unaware of. This then goes on to say:

    "Every AI citizen should be fully conversant with the foundational data skills set out in the Essential Digital Skills Framework ."

    I would argue that is not a SMART objective. Yes, when you look at that framework, most people should be able to do those (not all), but I would argue that most people would be completely unaware of that frameworks existence.

    And given some of the misinformation I heard stated...

    "They will be critical consumers of artificial intelligence, and possess an awareness of the capabilities of these technologies as well as a pragmatic outlook on their utility."

    I have been told many times that ChatGPT is going to replace all coding, It isn't, not in the short term at least. It is a useful productivity tool. Between two engineers, this is fairly well know. To the general public that is a completely different matter. You almost need an educated AI Citizen and an uneducated AI Citizen to reflect reality.

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  • in reply to Mark Tickner

      Thanks Mark for your interesting comments above.  How do you feel the AI-skills guidance should have focused on?  What has it missed out? There isn't great clarity over the difference between narrow, specialist v general purpose AI tools and their uses by different groups of persona.

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