Jessica Dine: We Have the Tools to Head Off the Newest Digital Divide

Jessica Dine, a policy analyst at New America’s Open Technology Institute and Wireless Future, wrote an op-ed in BroadBand Breakfast, urging NTIA to let states have the discretion to spend leftover BEAD funds on "non-deployment" uses. These uses would address affordability and digital skills gaps, which are both integral as Starlink chases after a guaranteed payout regardless of people getting online and a new digital divide forming in the wake of AI.

It’s not only internet access at stake anymore. Even as we struggle to close the original digital divide, a new, immensely consequential one has opened up beneath our feet—the gap created by uneven access to and use of AI. As generative AI becomes embedded in everything from educational software and hiring systems to loan applications, Americans are starting to need both baseline digital skills and basic AI proficiency to navigate daily life. And the same populations already struggling to get online are now being left behind by the AI revolution. The window to address these gaps is closing fast.

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Compared to expensive broadband deployments, the expense associated with training populations to use digital technologies, including AI, is minimal. The costs of not doing so are enormous. For an administration focused on cost-cutting, the immense return on investment should be appealing. And the need to train Americans to make safe and effective use of AI should be compelling in a world where technological competitiveness is critical and fierce.