NIST activities to describe and support the artificial intelligence workforce

(a) Authorities to support workforce frameworks Subsection (b) of section 2 of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 272) is amended— (1) in paragraph (12), by striking and after the semicolon; (2) in paragraph (13), by striking the period at the end and inserting; and; and (3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph: (14) to provide industry, government, and research, nonprofit, and educational institutions with workforce frameworks for critical and emerging technologies and other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics domains for the purpose of bolstering scientific and technical education, training, and workforce development.. (b) NIST activities to support the artificial intelligence governance workforce Section 22A of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278h–1) is amended— (1) in subsection (b)— (A) by redesignating paragraphs (3) through (5) as paragraphs (4) through (6), respectively; and (B) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following new paragraph: (3) support education and workforce development activities to expand the artificial intelligence workforce, including careers related to helping organizations govern, map, measure, and manage artificial intelligence related risk, including testing, evaluation, verification, and validation of artificial intelligence;; and (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection: (i) Definition In this section, the term artificial intelligence has the meaning given such term in section 5002 of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9401).. (c) Artificial intelligence workforce framework (1) In general Title LIII of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020 (15 U.S.C. 9441 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 5304. NIST activities to categorize the artificial intelligence workforce (a) In general The Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, in consultation with the Secretary of Labor, the Director of the National Science Foundation, the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, and the heads of other Federal departments and agencies, as appropriate, shall develop fundamental reference resources for describing and sharing information regarding work related to artificial intelligence to address workforce gaps. (b) Activities (1) In general In carrying out subsection (a), the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology shall carry out the following: (A) Develop and periodically update an artificial intelligence workforce framework, which shall include the following components: (i) A common, consistent lexicon to describe artificial intelligence employment-related activities by work role, competency area, or other categorization, as appropriate. (ii) A description of the tasks, knowledge, or skills that are needed to perform artificial intelligence work. (B) Support interoperability and avoid unnecessary duplication of the such components of such framework with components in other workforce frameworks, including the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education Cybersecurity Workforce Framework or successor framework. (C) Develop guidelines regarding how to use the artificial intelligence workforce framework under subparagraph (A) for different aspects of workforce development, education, and training purposes. (D) Support external use of such framework, including relating to the following: (i) The development of technical guidelines and best practices related to the artificial intelligence workforce, or dissemination of existing related guidelines, as appropriate. (ii) Outreach and dissemination to artificial intelligence programs at all education levels of such framework to prepare and improve a skilled artificial intelligence workforce for the public and private sectors. (2) Stakeholder input In carrying out this subsection, the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology shall seek input from the following: (A) Federal departments and agencies. (B) State, local, Tribal, and territorial governments. (C) Industry. (D) Institutions of higher education. (E) National Laboratories. (F) Labor organizations. (G) Non-profit organizations. (c) Supporting efforts to identify and address Federal artificial intelligence workforce gaps The Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology shall use the artificial intelligence workforce framework under subsection (b)(1)(A) to provide technical assistance to the following: (1) The Director of the National Science Foundation, in developing criteria to designate qualified institutions of higher education for the Federal AI Scholarship-for-Service Program under section 10313(d) of the Research and Development, Competition, and Innovation Act (42 U.S.C. 18993(d)). (2) The Director of the Office of Personnel Management, to align the appropriate roles, knowledge, skills, abilities, and tasks specified in such framework with the activities described in section 105 of the AI in Government Act (title I of division U of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (Public Law 116–260)). (d) Publication Not later than one year after the development of the artificial intelligence workforce framework under subsection (b)(1)(A), the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology shall submit to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate such framework and make such framework publicly available on the website of the National Institute of Standards and Technology. (e) Definitions In this section: (1) Artificial intelligence system The term artificial intelligence system means any data system, software, hardware, application, tool, service, or utility that operates in whole or in part using artificial intelligence. (2) Labor organization The term labor organization has the meaning given such term in section 2(5) of the National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 152(5)), except that such term shall also include the following: (A) Any organization composed of labor organizations, such as a labor union federation or a State or municipal labor body. (B) Any organization which would be included in the definition for such term under such section, but for the fact that the organization represents individuals— (i) employed by the United States, any wholly owned Government corporation, any Federal Reserve Bank, or any State or political subdivision thereof; (ii) employed by persons subject to the Railway Labor Act (45 U.S.C. 151 et seq.); or (iii) employed as agricultural laborers. (3) Non-profit organization The term non-profit organization means an organization described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from tax under section 501(a) of such Code. (4) Technical standard The term technical standard has the meaning given such term in section 12(d)(5) of the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 note). (5) Workforce framework The term workforce framework means a common taxonomy and lexicon for any given domain that includes the building blocks of tasks, knowledge, or skills that can be structured to form work roles or competency areas.. (2) Clerical amendments The tables of contents in section 2(b) and title LIII of division E of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 are amended by inserting after the item relating to section 5303 the following new item: Sec. 5304. NIST activities to categorize the artificial intelligence workforce..