Calling it the ‘Make America AI-Ready’ initiative, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has created a free program to educate Americans on how to best use all the A.I. that is being created. According to the DOL’s news release, it helps “to equip American workers with foundational AI skills needed to succeed in an AI-driven economy.”
Its method of delivery might be considered a bit strange, but it is designed to be delivered via text message so that it is accessible to everyone, even if you don’t have regular access to a computer. Of course, if you don’t have access to a computer, I’m not sure what good A.I. is going to do you. And if the “thank-you for signing up” image to the left is any indication of the quality of the course, it will be another example of something DOGE should look into.
Deputy Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling said. “We are seeing AI create new jobs, new levels of productivity, and new forms of entrepreneurship, and we want to make sure all Americans have the skills to share in that prosperity.” So perhaps the program will help at least eliminate the fear of AI for those without computers as they enter the workforce.
According to the DOL, the course covers:
- Understand AI Principles: Understanding AI’s core concepts, capabilities, and limitations, creating the foundation for effective use.
- Explore AI Uses: Directly exploring different AI tools and relevant use cases, and how AI can complement human expertise.
- Direct AI Effectively: Understanding how to provide the right context to AI and how to create clear prompts that produce effective outputs.
- Evaluate AI Outposts: Assessing AI-generated results for accuracy and relevance.
- Use AI Responsibly: Using AI in ethical and secure ways, protecting critical information, and ensuring accountability for outcomes.
You can check out the course for yourself here: AI-Ready
I have signed up for the course and will keep you updated on how well the DOL did creating the course. They say it is “A free, 1-week AI literacy course for every American worker” designed to take 10 minutes per day so, I’m not expecting much. Personally, I think, if you’ve never used AI, the best way to learn is to start using it.
Trust But Verify
Be very careful about trusting AI’s actual facts. I recently asked “ChatGPT”, “Claude”, and Advanced Auto Parts which battery I needed to replace in my Vehicle. I entered the VIN# into each, so I should get exactly the right one. Both AIs found the right vehicle type and model.
ChatGPT tapped into Autozone and said, “Stick with 27F unless you’re intentionally upgrading and confirm tray/terminal fit.” And the first battery on the Autozone website was a 27F, but Autozone also said “Notes: Alternate fit: (OE) group 24F” and then it listed several 24F models. But when you actually click on the 27F battery, it says “Doesn’t fit your vehicle”.
Claude said, “Correct Battery Group Size: 24F (or 24R)- The correct size is 24F or 24R — the F or R refers to the orientation of the positive/negative terminals (flipped or reversed). You generally cannot use a straight Group 24 battery, as the cables aren’t long enough to reach.” (Which it sourced from a web Forum)
So, then I asked Claude what the difference between 24F and 27F was- “The Group 27F is about 1.75 inches longer than the 24F. Both share the same width and terminal positions (positive on the left). The 24F is slightly smaller, making it ideal for vehicles with limited battery compartment space, while the 27F’s larger size provides more power capacity but requires a larger battery tray.” And then it recommended that I stick with 24F because “The 27F is larger and likely won’t fit in your vehicle’s battery tray.” (Which may or may not be true since Autozone recommended it). O’Reilly says the 24F is the “original equipment” and doesn’t think the 27F will fit.
Advance Auto recommended a battery in “Group 35” or a 24F.
Initially, Claude told me Group 35 was too small for my vehicle, but once I told it that Advance Auto recommended it, Claude apologized and said, “I owe you a correction — you’re right, and I was wrong to dismiss it so quickly. Advance Auto and other stores do list both 24F and Group 35 as fitting your vehicle, and they’re not wrong — the two sizes are close enough in height and width that a 35 can physically fit in the tray. However, there’s an important tradeoff. In general, the 24F will give you about 20–25% more battery in terms of CCA and reserve capacity.”
So the bottom line is:
- A Group 35 will fit and will work
- But the 24F is the better choice for your vehicle — more reserve capacity and more CCA for essentially the same price
- If Rural King’s Platinum is a 24F, that’s still your best option (I had previously asked it for actual recommendations compared to a couple I found at Rural King)
Sorry for the overconfident pushback earlier — the store wasn’t wrong, but the 24F remains the stronger pick for your specific vehicle.
Despite finding dimensions for Group 35 and 24F, Claude couldn’t find a listing for the actual battery pan dimensions online, so it recommended that I go out and physically measure it. Which I thought was kind of funny.
So, despite how confident AI sounds, you still need to double-check its facts. And they will often backtrack once you call them out.
According to Stanford School of Business- Popular AI Models Show Partisan Bias When Asked to Talk Politics – It’s no secret that you shouldn’t take everything a Large Language Model (LLM) tells you at face value. If you’ve recently used ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini, you may have noticed a disclaimer at the very bottom of the screen: The AI “can make mistakes,” so you may want to check its work. In addition to containing inaccuracies and hallucinations, answers generated by LLMs may have a noticeable partisan bias.
More recently, a new book claimed that Google’s AI Gemini smeared conservative views as hate speech.
