Building an AI-Ready America: How AI Is Creating Opportunities Across America's Workforce

Okay, there we go. Can you hear me? Great. The Committee on Education and Workforce will please come to order. A quorum is present. The committee meets today pursuant to notice. Without objection, the chair may recess the committee at any point. I wanna welcome everyone uh to this hearing. Thank you for being here today. We're talking about, as the President said, some very important uh uh issues that uh that we're dealing with that are going to change the the way we do business and pretty much the way we do everything. Uh, I'll I wanna welcome you to uh our i- for those who are came out of state, uh to Georgia, to the best city, twelve years running, to do business in. And Augusta, where you're sitting right now, was just named the number one best city for entrepreneurs to start a business. Isn't that great? And a lot of that happened right here in this innovation center. But today's hearing is part of this committee's Building an AI-ready Work uh America series, and will examine how artificial intelligence, AI, is creating ec- economic opportunities for American workers job creators in our communities. There's no better place to hold this hearing than right here in Augusta, uh right here at the Georgia Cyber Innovation and Training Center on Augusta University's campus. For those uh tuning in today who are unfamiliar with Augusta with the Augusta area, Fort Gordon is just a short thirty minute drive from where we currently sit. It hosts the Army Cyber Center of Excellence and is home to Army Cyber School which trains educates and develops the Army cyberspace and electronic warfare workforce. Every year, thousands of people leave Fort Gordon looking for work. The Georgia Cyber Center was created to meet this growing demand and drive collaboration between academia government and industry stakeholders to equip a superior cyber security workforce with the skills they need. AI is playing a significant role in this mission as the technology continues to transform Army defense cyber operations. Additionally, Augusta University is home to the Medical College of Georgia, uh the university's flagship medical school, which the president just said is the oldest in in uh the state of Georgia and uh and probably in the country, but um wh- where AI is innovating the health care industry and educating the next generation of medical professionals. AI has the potential to be a powerful engine of economic growth, across the country. AI is enhancing workers' knowledge, skills, and productivity while also automating routine tasks and improving efficiency across every industry. As we see this technology introduced into uh is introduced into more workplaces as it is introduced into more workplaces our job as policymakers is to foster an environment that delivers new and greater opportunities for American workers the potential for AI to create jobs strengthen existing industries and empower job creators is immense, but we must ensure that our policies encourage uh its responsible uh adoption so that every worker can uh benefit from these advancements. And to give an example of that, just uh just after World War Two um almost ninety percent of the Georgia workforce was in agriculture. and produced about ninety percent of the uh of the food needs for the state of Georgia. And of course it was the number one industry. It is still the number i- one industry. And less than two percent of Georgians produce a hundred and twenty percent of the food needs of Georgia. So things change. And we're seeing that right before our very eyes. And uh and we're already seeing those benefits across the economy and a- and and certainly agriculture, manufacturing, AI workers are are more productive, which makes American factories more competitive, strengthens domestic domestic supply chains and supports good paying jobs. In agriculture, AI helps farmers produce more with fewer resources, ensuring food security. In medicine, AI is revolutionizing medical training, public health planning and patient care, and improving outcomes and expanding access. As we consider the role of AI in the workplace, we should be wary of a one-size-fits-all The needs of a family farm are not the same as those of a hospital, a manufacturing plant, or small business. Congress must pursue flexible policies that allow businesses to adopt AI in ways that best suit their industry and workforce. Our goal should be to foster innovation while ensuring that businesses of every size in every corner of the country can benefit from AI. That begins by listening to the voices of workers, producers, entrepreneurs, and industry leaders. craft solutions that reflect the diversity of America's economy. That is exactly what today's hearing is designed to do. At the same time, we cannot take America's leadership, uh, in AI for granted because it is not guaranteed. Other nations are investing ag- aggressively in AI and this technology is evolving at an incredible pace. If the United States intends to win the AI race, we must invest in the infrastructure, workforce, and innovation needed to maintain our competitive edge. We also need better data on how AI is impacting our workforce so policymakers can make informed decisions. And we must think carefully before we impose unnecessary regulations that could stifle inf- innovation or undermine Americans' competitiveness. Today's hearing is an opportunity to explore how AI can strengthen our economy, create jobs, and reinforce America's leadership in innovation. We appreciate the insights of our witnesses and will offer uh uh who will offer about how AI can improve people's lives and ensure this technology technology remains a tool that serves all Americans and not the other way around. Uh with that, I yield to Representative McBath for an opening statement.

Uh thank you so much, Chairman Allen, and thank you everyone for joining us today. It's so nice to be down on this side of Georgia since I usually am up on the other end of Georgia, so I'm I'm feel very welcome to be here. I appreciate the opportunity to discuss this important issue that is affecting our community with our community. Right now, Americans are being pushed to the brink by an economy that works for those only that are already doing well but not for regular people. You should not have to already have money to make money in the United States of America. We cannot allow that to become the norm for an economy that prides itself on the idea of the American dream and opportunity for all. Despite working harder and producing more than ever before, American families cannot afford necessities like groceries, gas, and health care. If we wanna make life easier for working people and their families, We must build a future that empowers them to protect themselves against these rising prices. Artificial intelligence or AI as we know know it by, will be a part of that future as my colleague, Representative Allen, has stated, but we must act with caution and responsibility to ensure that these new technologies are working for regular people, working for all people, not making it more difficult for them to get good jobs and to keep those jobs. AI has rapidly been introduced in our lives. While some uses of this technology in the workplace is absolutely without a doubt going to benefit people, it also can pose significant significant concerns. Some employers have used AI as a weapon in retaliation against workers who are unionizing or to lower wages. The unrestricted use of AI can also infringe on workers' privacy and make it harder for workers to prove that their gender their race their age or disability status were used to discriminate against them, which despite all of the progress that we have made in this country, unfortunately, still this happens every single day. As I AI becomes more common, and yes, it will. We've begun to see some employers use sophisticated technology to actually monitor and evaluate their workers. This includes tracing workers on the job physical activities, such as bathroom breaks, using facial recognition to assess their attention to compu- com- computer screens, and other tasks. That is a level of surveillance and control that members of Congress would never accept for ourselves and we shouldn't expect that of the American people. Congress must also not ignore the very real concerns that families across our country and in Georgia have about the expansion of data centers. Ansley Brown and her family in Co- were one of the many that were forced to sell their family home, which will be demolished to make way for a power line to feed AI data centers. As AI continues to grow at a rapid pace, we have a responsibility to ensure that innovation Yes, we need the innovation. But we have a responsibility to make sure that it does not come at the expense of the people that it's meant to serve. The future of AI is definitely promising, but it must also be guided by the fairness, respect for people's homes, and a commitment to protecting families in Georgia and the communities they have built and lived in for generations. It is critical that the implementation of AI be a community-led effort. This begins by ensuring that workers and their unions have a seat at the table in the development and implementation of AI in America's workplaces. And it is the role of our local, state, and federal governments to implement safeguards to prevent employer abuse, protect people's homes, and addr- address privacy concerns. Congress has the responsibility to rein in big tech companies so that AI can be used for Americans instead of being used against them. Many cities and states have put sensible guardrails in place to protect people and to ensure that AI is being used and expanded appropriately. It is concerning that some of my colleagues recently attempted to pass a moratorium on state and local AI regulations in the one big beautiful bill. a move that generated so much bipartisan opposition that seventeen Republican governors, including the Governor of Georgia, Governor Kemp, wrote to the United States Senate in opposition, warning that people will be at risk until basic rules, just basic rules ensuring safety and fairness can be put into effect. We don't need another tool that will funnel profits to the top of the expense of the regular Americans doing the work to create those profits. We don't need another reason for large companies and governments to use intimate domain to force Georgians like Ensley Brown into abandoning their childhood homes. What the American people do need is for Congress to take an active role in shaping how AI is integrated into our daily lives and in developing thoughtful regulations that balance protecting people with the need for economic growth. I hope that today's discussion will definitely be a bipartisan path forward to ensure that Congress that my colleagues and I strike the appropriate balance on artificial intelligence, and I yield.

The gentlelady yields. Uh pursuant to committee rule HC, all members who wish to insert written statements into the record may do so by submitting them to the committee clerk electronically in Microsoft Word format by five PM, fourteen days after this hearing. And without objection, the hearing record will remain open for fourteen days to allow search sta- such statements and other extraneous material noted during the hearing to be submitted for the official hearing record. I will now turn to the introduction of our distinguished four witnesses. Our first witness is Mister Par- uh Par- Parial, founder and CEO of Mainus Mainus Bio in Boston, Massachusetts. Mister Parial, thank you for being here. Our second witness is Mister Brad Edenfield, a farmer and general manager of R T Farms in Burke County, Georgia. Our third witness is Mr. Tony Barlow, Vice President at Communication Workers of America, located uh local thirty-two O four in Atlanta, Georgia. Our last witness is Doctor Jeffrey Talbert, Professor and Department Chair in uh in AI and Health, and Georgia Research Alliance eminent scholar at the Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University here in Augusta, Georgia. We thank the witnesses for being here today. pursue it to committee rules, I would ask that each that you each ri uh limit your oral presentation to a five minute summary of your written statement. You see the uh the timer right in front of you. Uh now I will first recognize Mister Par- Paralymp for your testimony. You need to hit your microphone button too, yes.

Good morning, Chairman Allen and members of the Committee on Education and Workforce. My name is Ajit Pariyal. I'm the founder and chief executive officer of MANUS, a next generation industrial biotechnology company focused on the advanced bio-manufacturing of complex natural products used in food ingredients, agricultural chemicals and essential medicines. Thank you, Mister Chairman, holding this uh hearing in Augusta, Georgia. As a proud naturalized US citizen, I choose to raise my family here in Nagasta and built one of America's largest bio-manufacturing facilities in Nagasta. I was raised in a farming family in India, where agriculture centered on spices, medicinal plants, and other crops valued for the natural compounds they use in our everyday life. My early experience working in agricultural fields, later studying organic chemistry, fostered a lasting interest in understanding how they are f formed and how they might be produced more efficiently and economically. That experience led me to fundamental question, could biology provide a better s approach? Pursuing that question ultimately brought me to the United States. I am grateful for the opportunity Maleka gave me to come here and advance a frontier bioengineering technology at MIT. With the support from a two million dollar NIH funding. That work led to a powerful cell factory engineering and bio-manufacturing platform technology for producing comp complex chemicals that that are difficult to grow agri- agriculturally or synthesize chemically. These become the foundation of Manus technology platform, attracting hundreds of million dollars in investment, supporting factories in rural America, and creating jobs here at home. I founded MANUS in twenty eleven with my colleagues from MIT. Over the past fifteen years, we have developed and commercialized a biomanufacturing platform that helps address US critical supply chain vulnerabilities in food, medicines, and materials. By using domestic input such as US con US ground corn sugar, MANUS can replace foreign sourced products from sweeteners to pharmaceutical starting materials, and the intermediates. MANAS acquired the Agasta bio-facility in twenty eighteen as part of our acquisition of NeutralSuite company. The former NeutralSuite facility for aspartame production had shuttered in twenty fourteen due to competition from foreign manufacturers in China. MANAS repurposed this facility for the production of bio-alternatives at a fraction of the cost of building a brand new facility. Reheard many of the original operators and trained and expanded the team, bringing more than hundred and fifty skilled jobs back to rural Georgia and integrating them to the economy of the future. We have deliberately built out domestic manufacturing, having invested more than hundred million in Augusta, Georgia through twenty twenty five and with an anticipated total investment approximately hundred and thirty five million by the end of twenty twenty six. Maris has commercialized m- multiple products out of our Guesta biofusility. In addition to multiple flavors, our stevia sweetener, we recently announced the launch of monk fruit sweetener, the first monk fruit product that is completely decoupled to China and manufactured right here in the United States, at commercial scale through industrial bio-manufacturing. In doing so, we are demonstrating the power of American investment into the next generation technology in enabling paradigm shift in the manufacturing of natural sweeteners, and ingredients, paving a path for regaining American dominance in this sector. Aligning with the Make America Healthy Again movement, Mena's sweetness provide a natural solution for tackling sugar reduction and making healthier food more affordable and accessible. Additionally, Mena is in partnering with the Department of Health and Human Services on reshoring US pharmaceutical production by leveraging bio-manufacturing and continuous flow chemistry to reduce dependency on foreign supply chains like China and India. Especially for critical medicine derived from fragile natural sources. MANAS offers a scalable solution by leveraging US innovation and domestic bio-manufacturing to transform domestic feed for feed stocks like US corn into KSM APIs eliminating upstream checkpoints and stock whiling alone cannot fix. Today's hearings about ensuring the next generation of manufacturing is designed built and scaled in America, how artificial intelligence can be leveraged to create opportunities in American workforce. AI is rapidly becoming one of the defining technologies of twenty first century. While much of the public conversation has focused on generative AI, some of the most significant opportunities lie in how AI is transforming the way we design build and manufacture products here at home. As a as global competition intensify, the United States has an o opportunity to lead not only in deploying AI technologies, but also in deploying them to strengthen our industrial base, create high quality manufacturing jobs, drive long-term economic growth. This type of innovation has implications far beyond a single company or industry. AI is giving manufacturers like man as new tools to optimize production, improve quality, reduce waste, strengthen supply chains, bringing new product to market faster. These advancements also create opportunities for American workers, from software engineers, data scientists to skilled technicians, operators, and advanced manufacturing professionals, supporting a stronger and more competitive domestic economy.

I'm sorry, we're out of time, but you're you you've submitted your full testimony for th for the record,

Yeah. For the record.

so um we we y- you all have that available to you. Next, I will recognize Mister Edenfield for your testimony. You have five minutes, sir.

Good morning, Chairman Allen and members of the Education and Workforce Committee, I would like to thank you for the opportunity to share my experiences and opinions on how I believe artificial intelligence AI is and will continue to impact agriculture. As a fifth generation farmer, I'm very passionate about both the future and the goals of agriculture. I believe that it is a key industry, not only for the state but also the nation, and for the success and survival of uh both those things. As a farmer I'm also acutely aware of the challenges that we face uh every day. and the importance of our ability to be able to adapt to overcome those challenges. Technology in general is disruptive, which can be uncomfortable and sometimes um controversial. However, it is through those changes that we create new efficiencies and reach new goals that we didn't have the opportunity in the past. Um, AI processes data at a rate that a human can't even fathom, but it takes an individual to be able to understand interconnections and how to use that data to generate any type of real value. Um in agriculture, as within other industries, we're constantly looking for ways that we can do more with less. Um we rely on our past experiences and the experiences of those who came before us to help guide us to do that. When using AI, it's up to the individual to be able to determine whether or not the information that it gives us is valid. As a farmer with decades of experience, I can usually take what it gives me and be able to determine that, but many of farmers with decades of experience don't have a desire or an ability to use AI to be able to do that, uh to use it properly. Contr- uh conversely, the individual that has the experience and the desire to use AI typically doesn't have the background in either agricultural or whatever field to be able to use AI to really generate any value. in that area or in that industry. In agriculture, the average age of the farmer is continuing to to climb, and it has throughout my entire time in it. And I do see AI as an opportunity uh for us to be able to potentially entice younger people into back into the fields. Um, I think it creates an opportunity in education for internships between individuals who wanna develop more meaningful AI platforms to partner with people that have decades' worth of experience in their field to be able to advance that industry. Um, this could lead to both new two and four year degree opportunities, I think. But then when we look at it from a job standpoint, I think it's gonna be critical for us in agriculture to really evaluate AI a- AI and determine ways that we can make it be implemented in our unique operations but more importantly we're gonna have to realize that we have to begin looking for a new type of employee, one that can bridge that gap between the historical type of work that we've always done and this intangible element that we may not have considered in the past. Um, I do believe that uh new types of education and job opportunities could lead to a better understanding and even appreciation of our industry, which could lead to more people seeking employment within it. Um, at this time, AI is currently used in our industry as a time-saving tool. But I do believe that with uh proper educational paths and adoption within the industry both in implementation but also hiring that it could be a paradigm shift uh create a paradigm shift that would revolutionize our entire industry, and allow us to do more with less. Um, I would like to thank you again for this opportunity to be able to share my decades of experience in agriculture with you and how it impacts AI.

The gentleman yields. Uh, next I will call on Mister, I'll uh, next I'll recognize Mister Barlow for your testimony. Sir, you have five minutes.

Thank you. Good morning, Chairman Allen, writing members, me Beth, and members of the committee. Thank you all for the opportunity to testify. My name is Tony Barlow. I'm the Vice President of CWA local thirty two O four. And I'm the outside plant- I'm the outside plant-te- for AT&T in Atlanta. Workers across the country have seen employees raising to adopt new artificial intelligent tools. Without proper guard wheels, AI has the potential to displace workers, degrade job quality, and undermine service quality. It is crucial that workers has the voice and its technology is used in the workplace. At the call centers in my local, AI used to monitor, speed up work, take away the ability to respond to customers' needs, automate customer service functions, to reduce headcount, and create a stressful workplace environment. CWA call center workers nationwide reported that AI tools are designed to automate both front-line tasks like note-taking management functions like scheduling, training, performance evaluations. In two- in twenty-twenty- in a twenty-twenty-three survey, nearly three thousand CWA call center members reported AI tools negatively impacted their job quality. Rather than improve their jobs, most workers felt AI sped up work, expanded monitoring, discipline links to surveillance, increased workplace stress, lower job satisfaction, and it did not improve customer services. For example, AI tools will analy analy analyze calls in real time, provide instant feedback to managers on the aspect of customer interactions. These tools claims to measure things such as tone of voice, speaking pace, and workers following to their call strip. But they can be flawed. Sometimes failing to track conversations properly, or exhibiting bias in evaluating workers. I've heard from my members and other call center workers that these measurements can be biased against workers' colors or certain speech style, such as a southern accent. Telcom technicians working in the field and providing services at customers' homes and are similarly being monitored and kept in tight schedule through real-time tracking of their locations through GPS and increasingly are directed throughout their day by automatic routing routing tools. It doesn't have to be this way. AEI can empower workers, building their skills and improving their abilities to perform the uniquely human part of their job. But only if workers have the voice in the development and implementation of AI systems. For instance, working in the call center as a customer service agent takes real skills. It's a talent to convince a frustrated customer to not only retain a services, but to buy another service. Agents have the talent and the ability to identify customer needs and find out solutions. But AI can rob workers of their power to use the knowledge and skills to solve problems. the job become more sticking to a script. For years, our employers have been attempting to use technology to de-scale our jobs and replaced us with lower-paid non-union contractors. Only through collective bargaining we have protected our jobs and placed limits on outsourcing. There are immediate steps that Congress can take to make sure that AIs used properly. Congress could pass the No Robot Boss Act. which prohibits employees from making, hiring, firing, and disciplinary decisions on the basis of automated software without the input of a human. We're lucky to have a collective bargaining agreement that helps protect us. But workers have faced, workers should not face threats to their livelihood on the basis of AI decisions that may be illegal, discriminatory, or simply incorrect. Congress should also pass the Keep the Call Centers in America Act, One key part of the bill, of this bill gives customers the right to be transferred to actual person, rather than talking to an AI agent. This will both improve customer services and ensure smoother process for agents by decreasing customer frustration. As a father of three daughters and one son, all in college, I urge Congress to take the time to get these policies right. The policy enacted will affect not only my own children, but also working families across the country for years to come. These policies will determine whether families can consider a good job, support their families, build financial stability, and pursue fulfilling lives. Thank you all for the opportunity to testify before you today. I look forward to any questions you may have.

I thank the gentlemen and the gentlemen yields. Under committee rule, not, oh. Oh. Sorry. Getting ahead of myself. Uh, saving the best for last, I recognize Doctor Talbot for your testimony. Thank you.

Chairman Allen, Ranking Member McBath, and members of the committee. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today on how artificial intelligence is creating opportunities across America's healthcare workforce. My name is Jeffrey Talbert, Professor and Chair of the Department of Artificial Intelligence and Health, at our at Augusta University's Medical College of Georgia, and a Georgia Research Alliance eminent scholar with over thirty years of experience in biomedical informatics. The Medical College of Georgia is one of the largest medical schools in the country. We provide the next generation of physician leaders with a life-saving and life-changing education. As a part of that education, we are teaching students how AI can be a force amplifier and contribute to better health outcomes for their patients. In healthcare, AI is increasingly demonstrating its greatest value is through augmentation. The strongest evidence shows AI helps healthcare professionals work more effectively, reduce administrative burdens, improve h- patient outcomes, and expand workforce capacity. The healthcare workforce faces staffing shortages, rising administrative demands, burnout, and retention challenges. More than forty percent of physicians report symptoms of burnout, and many spend substantial portions of their day documenting care rather than providing it. One of the healthcare industry's most successful AI applications is ambient document technology. This converts clinical conversations into draft notes that clinicians review and approve. Multiple studies show these tools reduce documentation burden, after hours work, and burnout. One multi-system implementation of these tools found clinician burnout fell from approximately fifty-two percent to thirty-nine percent. AI is also producing measurable improvements in care quality and medical discovery. For example, large studies of AI assisted breast cancer screenings have shown approximately twenty-nine percent higher cancer detection helping more patients benefit from earlier diagnosis and treatment. AI is also demonstrating the potential to predict serious complications before they occur. Deep learning models have been shown to predict acute kidney injury up to forty-eight hours before traditional clinical recognition. FDA cleared AI systems for diabetic retinopathy identify patients at risk for preventable blindness in primary care settings, allowing interventions before disease progression. We are also beginning to see AI accelerate the development of new medicines. One AI discovered drug candidate to treat idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis advanced to human clinical testing in thirty months, about half the time commonly required for traditional drug discovery programs. AI shortens development timelines and brings promising therapies more quickly. As organizations adopt these technologies, there is increasing demand for new roles in AI implementation, oversight, education, and operations. These, this includes professionals who can evaluate, manage, and safely deploy AI-enabled systems. In closing, the strongest evidence suggests that AI delivers the greatest value when it amplifies human expertise rather than replaces it. This allows healthcare professionals to spend their time caring for patients. detecting, diagnosing, and treating disease earlier and accelerating scientific discovery. By using AI to enhance care, we can create a healthier population and a stronger, more capable workforce. America's opportunity is not simply to adopt AI, but to lead its responsible development and education and implementation. That is why Augusta University established the Department of AI and Health at the Medical College of Georgia, the first department of its kind in Georgia, to advance AI research, support groundbreaking achievements in translational science, and support responsible implementation of AI in clinical practice. Again, thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today. I look forward to your questions.

Good. Thank you, Doctor Talbert and the gentlemen. Yields. Now. Under committee rule nine, we will now question witnesses under the five minute rule. I will recognize myself for five minutes. Mister Parial, your company has developed and commercialized a bio-manufacturing platform that helps address US supply chain vulnerabilities in food, medicines and other materials. In what ways does artificial intelligence make the work you do as man as possible? And you need turn on your mike, sir.

Thank you for that question. is there is a multi multi-prone in fact coming here from what our company does is we create cell factories which can consume US producer the corn and make this product at a commercial scale so this is most advanced to biotechnological processes. There the design engineering of that self we call cell factory is very critical. That is America innovated invented and innovated in this technology last twenty five years. Right, with the biotechnology. So, advancing that technology using AI, what man has collected last fifteen years of the data, using the data, we implemented AI for advanced design and engineering of that cell factories. Right. Then the next is, what is our biggest challenge is, can you produce at home, at scale, and economically? That's where what we are practicing in the CASTA, bringing AI to help our team to implement that commercial scale operation of the tech technology.

Can this be used on a in another apply it to other manufacturing processes?

Absolutely.

Okay.

Absolutely.

Alright, uh, Mister Ed- Ed Filson, your written testimony uh discusses AI's potential to help tackle workforce challenges in farming and agriculture. What kinds of workforce opportunities are you already seeing in agriculture as a result

Um, yes. So agriculture in general, as I mentioned before, we have an aging workforce. Um in general younger people typically don't like or have been attracted to the type of work that we do. Uh in addition the cost to enter our industry is usually very high so that can create conflicts of ability to do that. Um I know that farm is not a secret, that in most cases farm work uh families are generational. Uh what we've seen though is a lot of times the younger generation not having that same desire to come back and work on the farm. But personally I know of a number of individuals who went into other industries, and now after five to ten years of doing something else, AI has created an opportunity for them to come back to their family's farm.

And you mentioned that you think younger people will uh be drawn to agriculture as a result of uh this technology.

Yes.

Good. Uh, Doctor Chalmers, your written testimony talks about how AI workforce value in medicine, health care lies in aug augmenting the role of workers and not replacing them. Why is it important to increase workforce capacity in the medical field?

Um, sure. Um, AI creates, uh, better patient care by taking the administrative burdens off of the clinicians that are there. So what we're really trying to do is to try to reduce this burnout,

So how does this expand uh and cr- uh in y- y- y- y- and create demand for new roles in healthcare?

So as AI is implemented, we're seeing that we need new types of workers, and we've talked about this as a couple of us on on this panel today. So in healthcare, as you implement AI, you need new staff that can work on the implementation challenges, work on the regulatory challenges, work on how to train their current workers that are there to be able to use those tools. So we're having to hire a lot of new people just to manage the AI as it moves forward. So there's lots of new opportunities for current staff to get retrained, to be able to support some of these tools, as well as to hire new staff to come in and help manage as AI is implemented across the healthcare industry.

Good, great. Thank you. All right. Uh, now I will go to uh, Mr.

Miss McBath.

Miss McBath for your five minutes of questioning.

Thank you so much, Chairman, thank you so much for each and every one of you. I've just been taking lots of copious notes cuz I really um am interested in this, uh, everything that you said this morning. And Dr. Talbert, you know, thank you so much for being here. We appreciate it. And many Americans are familiar with AI. but they are less familiar with um the use of it in healthcare. And so can you please discuss what your understanding is of AI competency in language in which most people can understand um you know in fields like healthcare um and what that looks like and you know you've already kind of touched upon what this means for us in the future but if you wanna expand upon that, that would be great.

A couple of distinctions I'll make to kind of respond to I think the the the keynote which is how a- how competent is the AI that is that what we're using in healthcare. And the first thing to note is that the FDA actually right now regulates about, I think they have fourteen hundred and fifty approved AI tools.

Mm-hmm.

Um, those have been around, the first ones were approved in the late nineteen nineties. And so these are, any time you go and have an MRI, a CT scan, or an X ray, the radiologist that reads that and the m- and the machine that actually does the scan, those machines actually use AI as part of that process and report it in advanced tools that are FDA approved tools, to those clinicians to help them understand that. Um the approval process for that goes through something very similar to medications. So to get a medication approved, you know it has to go through the the s- the clinical trial process and to b- to be um approved. So the AI tools go through the same process um or s- very similar process that that those drugs go through. Um now, different types of tools in AI. So let's say um I create an AI tool to predict how many people are gonna not show up for their clinic appointment today. Well, that's very useful in the clinic. But that doesn't require AI approval because it doesn't impact direct patient care. It's just an administrative tools. So I can make that and market that and sell it um a as much as I want to. So then there's a lot of those kind of AI tools that are using generative AI things um to to be used in the in the clinic. So the quality of those tools really depends on the quality of the company that developed it or the people that developed it and how it's used and implemented. So this is my point of why we need these these new staff that can come in and help monitor these tools, make sure that the performance is adequate for what it, what it, they think it's doing, and it's doing things correctly.

Okay, thank you very much. I appreciate that. Mister Barlow, oftentimes headlines focus on the chances that technology will lead to workers being laid off, as you've just already kind of suggested can happen. But even when workers keep their jobs, the quality of those jobs can change with the arrival of these new technol- technologies. For example, technologies might make it easier for bosses to monitor employee

Yes. Yes, thank you for that question.

Okay.

As you can see, we have experts in certain fields, that's here, doctors for health care and - and agriculture and so forth. But I do believe that workers are the experts that actually are doing their job day to day. Um, they know the technology. They know is it gonna help them do their job and make it better, uh, rather than making their lives a little harder. Uh, workers have a clear understanding of what is needed, as necessary to get the job done. Um, they - they know the day-to-day tasks, what is needed for that job. Um, so if workers are not consulted, AI tools can actually slow down the process of them doing their job, make their work a little less efficient. Um, and it just doesn't affect workers. It'll also impact the customers and also the business in the process by slow- slowing things down cuz it's not being implemented properly.

Okay, thank you. One more question for you two. We've heard about AI being used to evaluate workers' performance. And you've even kind of touched upon that. This is sometimes called algorithm algorithmic management? Have members of your union experienced these kinds of programs being used to judge their work?

Yes, so as Vice President of my local um I heard from call center members that AI do evaluate um but they don't always it it shouldn't work the way they should uh like workers of college have said that AI um can be biased and discriminatory um these tools often don't recognize certain pronunciations as speech styles. Um, this can be a real problem here in Georgia, uh where many workers here have southern accents. Um, when AI can make a mistake, um it can make a member's livelihood at risk, uh even though through discipline or losing extra pay. Um, it'll create a little extra more stress at work, lower job satisfactory, um and it's just, I I just feel like it's just it's uh less job satisfactory for my members, people are gonna become unhappy, And the work is - is not being done properly.

OK. Thank you so much. I yield.

Thank you.

I'm out of time.

The gentlelady yields. Now it is my privilege to uh recognize my dear friend from across the river uh in South Carolina uh and uh p- I think probably the senior member on the Committee of Education and Workforce,

Mm-hmm.

uh my dear friend Joe Wilson. for his five minutes of questioning.

And and thank you very much, Mister Chairman, and indeed uh ladies and gentlemen, uh I'm grateful to be here and neighbors of the counties that I represent, uh Aiken and Barnwell, uh it just I'm I'm grateful to be here with you. Uh and hey, I'm so happy to hear this is number one community because we adopted too. I uh indeed North Augusta you c- hey, all of this is inseparable. And then I want you to know too that uh in the future in South Carolina that uh both for governor are gonna be working to- together to be uh cooperative. Uh uh St- uh State Representative uh Jermaine J- uh Johnson of uh Columbia and the Attorney General of South Carolina Alan Wilson my oldest son of Lexington, um both candidates for governor of South Carolina are gonna be working together in uh bipartisanship to maintain the interstate cooperation. Additionally, I'm grateful to be here with uh Chairman uh Rick Allen. Uh I I only regret Robin's not here. But um uh we just so appreciate uh I uh again it's an example of working together. Uh on the Savannah River site, on every issue known to um Fort Gordon and how exciting Cyber Command, and then uh new Savannah Lock and Dam, over and over again. It's uh bi-state cooperation. And then uh bipartisanship, uh Congresswoman Lucy McBeth is a living example. This week uh she uh working with Congresswoman uh, Burgess Owens of Utah and Chairman, uh, Mike, uh, excuse me, Tim Wahlberg, uh, some great legislation has been approved this week, uh, for the committee, uh, for the American people. So I'm grateful to be here with her. And then it's meaningful to me to be here. My family heritage, my grandfather Wilson was born across the River Beach Island in eighteen eighty eight and great grandfather Wilson, eighteen sixty. And then to be here with President Russell Keen, the heritage continues, uh, we were both born in the holy city. of Charleston, South Carolina. So I'm grateful to be here with the president. With that in mind, uh, Mister Pariel, I we have a challenge from China in regard to uh AI and being more productive and innovative. Uh, how can we i- indeed become uh ad- address this competition?

I think how fast we can implement AI responsibly And uh uh and how do we democratize AI is going to be critical to our manufacturing sector, to improve the productivity of our workforce i is is the critical to competition bringing you know competing to China. So let me maybe real life example, right. S If you go back to our warehouse, that is kind of a lower level job in in this manufacturing sector, right. The the person who runs the warehouse, he may f he normally manage all the incoming raw materials and everything. Traditionally he need to scan it, wait, read lot of papers. Now, Ellie could control an AI agent is a helpful to Ellie to manage it, because you scan it, he in a in a fraction of second he know that one, the material coming in is high quality, good quality, you know, it's this one. So it's improving the productivity of people. And people will be happy. The AI is not not managing LA but LA is managing AI, right. So it's a reverse. So how fast we can implement these advanced technologies to competition, is China is going to be coming to because China, we cannot compete on labor cost with China. Only we advance the technologies we can compete with China.

And and and indeed, uh to me it's exciting to see jobs being created uh b by the new technology and Mister Edenfield, you've done great on agriculture and on specific crops. or interest to me, uh peaches, uh pecans, cotton, how uh how can AI address specific crops?

Certainly. So in agriculture we're clearly limited on a number of uh issues, but number one is acreage. Every year we're losing more and more acres to different types of development. And so we can use AI to potentially try to find those opportunities for us to increase I feel like two real ways that's time and money. to find efficiencies. And so, uh, um, as a cotton farmer, you know, trying to determine the right types of, uh, helping it help make decisions on trying to use exactly which varieties and timing of s- of applications and things to be able to be more efficient, I think, would be opportunities there.

Well, again, it's exciting to see productivity in new jobs and Dr. Talbert,

Yeah.

uh, indeed, uh, uh, on Fox and Friends this morning, uh, as I was coming here, they were going over how advances in AI or helping uh address cancer uh recovery. And so how would you uh present that?

I think a lot of those tools around um really increasing um detection of disease earlier um really comes from some of the AI tools around imaging so a lot of the the work that I've talked about um with breast cancer screening they're able to look at the images and screen the images better and see things sooner than human beings can see same things with colon screenings and others so it's really applying the best technology to those use cases. to help physicians make better decisions.

You're here. I yield back.

The gentleman yields, uh and uh again I wanna thank everyone for being here today and I will now uh recognize Mrs. McBath for her closing remarks.

Well thank you, Mister Chairman, and I do wanna say I actually had a chance to go to one of our advanced manufacturing um um product manu- manufacturers called Q cells just last week. And so we got a chance to see really a great expanded usage of AI and technology there. So I just wanted to put that plug in there as well. But thank you, Chairman, thank you once again to everyone for joining us today. Artificial intelligence does present many, many opportunities as you've heard, but we must ensure that we're not leaving anyone behind. To strike that balance, Americans must be central to the conversation about AI in the workplace, rather than just having it imposed on them. While there are major benefits, AI can also pose great risk to workers' security and privacy. Used and expanded properly, and I think that's what we're all looking, trying and trying to move forward to, is using AI properly. AI can't um, you know, if we don't, it's going to do great jobs for the people who are actually doing them. But it it will increase invasive workplace surveillance practices and erode property rights for Georgians who have lived here for generations. We must also recognize that AI's impact, uh, it is extends beyond the workplace, and we've heard that this morning. Communities in Georgia hosting data centers are facing real strains on the water and energy usage. And some Georgians are even being forced out of their homes to make way for data centers and for power lines. Economic development should not come at the expense of public health or our environment and certainly not people's homes. Technology itself is not the problem. That's not the problem. The problem is deploying powerful tools without guardrails, without transparency or input from the people that will be impacted by it the most. When our government steps back, we don't get neutrality, we get rules written by for those with the most wealth and power in our society. But it's our responsibility as lawmakers to make sure that we keep our hands on the pulse to make sure that AI technology works efficiently and effectively for everyone. AI should be a tool that works for all people, not one that only extracts value for those who don't live in our communities, while leaving our friends and our neighbors to absorb the costs. Congress has a responsibility to act now and establish guardrails on AI use that balance protecting people along with the growth, economic growth that AI does pose. So I look forward to working with my colleagues to find real solutions that center on the needs of everyday American people. Thank you all for participating today. Thank you for being here, and I yield the balance of my time.

The General Lady yields. Um, I wanna thank our witnesses today for sharing your perspective on how AI is uh creating um all these economic and workforce opportunities and um as my dear friend Joe Wilson mentioned uh th- this is a global challenge um we are the greatest economic power in the world and uh I believe that's a mantle that's given to us by the grace of God and but yet if we don't or be obedient to that, uh uh I think God will give it to an - uh someone else, another nation. Um and can you imagine what would the world would look like, uh if we weren't trying to keep peace around the world uh right now? And obviously AI is important, uh i- in fact we mentioned the Cyber Center of Excellence and what's going on there. I'm telling you, let's give those guys a hand because they have paid a major They have played a major role in uh what uh we've been able to accomplish uh militarily and in keeping peace. I will tell you this, uh, you know, we're privy to a lot of information in Congress. And, you know, we have a lot of classified briefings. And uh our sor- Secretary Rubio was asked a question by one of my colleagues about, you know, how - how do you feel about putting our - our military in an arms way like we did in Venezuela. And he said, " Well," he said, " You know, the problem was the weather." "We had to wait till the weather cleared." When the weather cleared, we knew what Mandaro had for dinner and we knew exactly where he and his wife were sleeping. Now, folks, that is the power that we have right here in Augusta, Georgia. the power to know where our enemies are and how to deal with them in a very, very dangerous world. And AI is gonna determine a lot of that success going forward, not trying to scare anybody, but we are in a global uh situation here and again, we, you know, we have to do this responsibly and cooperatively. Um, you know, it's gonna change the workplace. Um, and uh, and i- and I'll tell you, i- you know, I ran a business for forty years and I had a y- a young young man that was very technical. And we - and we were the tip of the spear on technology in our company, which made us very competitive. But I'll tell you, I - I finally said, we're not spending any more money on technology in this company till we figure how to use what we have. Because that's how fast it's moving. Uh, as discussed today, AI has a real potential to he- help us, uh, keep manufacturing in America. We are moving manufacturing back to America. This is good news for our workforce. And in fact, you know, I've told, uh, every labor union, I've told every business, you know, we must train the future workforce. for our country to build this manufacturing base. GDP growth is critical to reducing our deficit. And there's nothing holding us back other than the training, you know, the workforce creates GDP. And, uh, and, you know, of course, southern accent. I get - I get - I get a lot of comments on my accent, so I I'd identify with you on that one. Uh, but uh, AI can uh help us train doctors to meet the needs of our health care system and help doctors spend more time with patients and less time charting. AI can help farmers to do more with less and lower the barriers to entry for Americans who want to uh work in uh farming and uh agriculture. And uh and I'll tell you, our production per acre is off the charts. Nobody c- nobody can touch us. Well, this has been a a a a a eye-opening event. We're gonna have other hearings across the country on this because in Congress, as Representative McBath says, we we wanna get this right. And the only way we get it right is listen to the American people. And so, uh, Lucy, thank you for being here today and and taking time to do this. And Joe, um, thank you. for um uh coming over. Um we we we we got in very late last night. So um in fact, for a while there I was afraid we weren't gonna be here. Speaker said on Tuesday, we're gonna get this stuff done and we're gonna be here till we get it done. And uh we got a lot done last week. And so uh uh and now we'll be in the districts now for the next month. So uh explaining to folks uh a lot about AI. and some of the fears there. So, uh, I look forward to working with my colleagues in Congress and this administration to make the promise of AI and make sure it is fulfilled for all Americans, American workers and job creators. I would like to, uh, uh, again thank our witnesses for testifying before the committee today, and without objection, there being no further business, the committee stands adjourned. Good.