For federal employees caught up in the current shutdown, there’s not a lot anyone can do but wait. Offices are closed, projects are paused and even email inboxes have gone dark. But while the government may be standing still, your skills don’t have to be. Now might be a great time to take some of those comprehensive classes that you never had time for, especially if they teach critical skills like how to effectively program and employ artificial intelligence.
To that end, Google is stepping up with the launch of an entire set of free online courses to teach people, including furloughed feds, how to use AI to boost productivity and prepare for what’s next as AI continues to evolve in new and unexpected ways. The program is part of Google’s Grow with Google initiative and focuses on AI literacy, practical prompting and real-world applications.
The centerpiece is the AI Essentials course, a self-paced program that takes about 15 hours to complete and requires no prior experience. The curriculum covers everything from how generative AI works to how to use it safely and responsibly in the workplace. There are also specialized modules for educators and new users who want to integrate AI tools into their daily tasks.
Although anyone can now access the courses for free, Google is also partnering with state governments to reach even more people. The state of Oklahoma recently announced that more than 10,000 residents got access to the AI Essentials course through a partnership between Google and the state’s Office of Management and Enterprise Services. That effort is part of a broader $9 billion program Google is investing in Oklahoma within the next two years to improve their cloud and AI infrastructure.
“Our state is positioned to be a leader in implementing AI technology, and this partnership with Google furthers that momentum by educating thousands of Oklahomans in foundational skills for tomorrow’s economy,” said Gov. J. Kevin Stitt in announcing the program.
While Oklahoma may be leading the charge, the opportunity now extends nationwide. The federal workforce has been steadily moving toward AI adoption across nearly every sector, from data analysis to customer service. But many agencies still report significant skill gaps. For feds who want to stay competitive, whether in their current roles or somewhere new, free training like this can provide a meaningful edge.
I recently hosted a federal roundtable discussion on optimizing AI, and questions from the audience naturally gravitated toward whether or not AI would ultimately take federal jobs away. Dr. Jay Eckles, the division director for application development at Oak Ridge National Laboratory had an interesting response. He compared AI to the use of forklifts in warehouses, because both are tools that can help people do their jobs a lot more efficiently. However, he did add that, “AI is not coming to take your jobs away, but people who know how to use AI probably are.”
To that end, learning how to effectively use AI can be a huge advantage for furloughed federal workers, whether they ultimately go back to government service or are considering moving out to the private sector. Google even offers certificates for anyone who completes the training course to prove to their bosses or potential employers that they are ready to hit the ground running with new skills that matter.
The courses run the gamut from learning generative AI basics to teaching advanced skills like how to integrate AI into business processes. Each course is divided up into bite size chunks of about two hours each, and can be tackled at any time.
I enrolled in the Prompting Essentials Specalizaiton course and was highly impressed. I’ve studied prompt engineering before and even designed specialized mini-AIs in the past, but even so, I learned a lot from those classes. For example, they taught me exercises that I could do to test my prompt engineering skills for even better accuracy. And it gave me a really good understanding about how to take the next step in AI mastery, namely how to design and control AI agents, which are the backbone of the new agentic AI evolution that generative AI is slowly morphing into.
Learning the basics of how generative AI tools could also help public servants make smarter decisions about when and how to deploy them. AI is not the answer to every problem, and the courses smartly focus on that as well. As the instructor for one of the classes explains, understanding the difference between using AI responsibly and relying on it blindly can prevent security risks, bias and misinformation from seeping into agency workflows. And free courses like these can also help to close the aforementioned AI skills gap in government.
Whether you’re furloughed, looking to pivot in your career, or just want to sharpen your AI skills, Google’s new courses provide a concrete way to stay ahead in the rapidly evolving AI economy. It’s the same spirit of curiosity and learning we highlighted with the Presidential AI Challenge, where students are encouraged to tackle real-world problems with AI. Adults can take a page from that playbook too, using these new resources to level up, experiment and prepare for the next wave of AI-driven work. Because in times of uncertainty, your skills are one thing you can always keep growing.
John Breeden II is an award-winning journalist and reviewer with over 20 years of experience covering technology. He is the CEO of the Tech Writers Bureau, a group that creates technological thought leadership content for organizations of all sizes. Twitter: @LabGuys
